AS YOGI BERRA ONCE SAID, IT'S LIKE deja vu all over again. If you've seen Webroot Parental Controls you'll surely think that KidsWatch Parental Computer Control is the same program. And you won't be far off-the two share a common ancestry. But the KidsWatch product has a few features WPC doesn't and is spared some (but not all) ofWPC's problems.

KidsWatch associates parental-control set¬tings with Windows user accounts. On installation, it creates a new account that you'll log into whenever you need to configure the program. You can configure the program for each user; it can even create new accounts and reset the pass¬word for existing accounts.
For each user, you start by choosing a restriction-level profile. There are profiles for four predefined age ranges along with nonrestricted Adult and Administrator accounts.

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You can also choose Custom to start with no predefined settings. As with WPC, you must take care not to click a profile after the initial setup. Otherwise, KidsWatch will restore the default values and wipe out most of your changes. As a bonus, Kids Watch offers a link to an inter¬active map that shows registered sex offenders near your address, with an option to get e-mail alerts of any who move in within five miles of your home. I had hoped KidsWatch would be a big improvement over its cousin Webroot Parental Controls. But I'd choose Net Nanny or Safe Eyes over either.