KidZui 4 looks the same, but has back-end changes
KidZui's closed-system browser for children upgrades to version 4, but fans of the program won't notice many changes initially. Available for Windows and Mac and as a Firefox extension, the update encompasses a range of changes, including optimization for Netbooks, client- and server-side caching, simplified animations, and a number of bug fixes. Most importantly, the program is supposed to run faster, although that was hard to judge from 10 minutes of use. It's not slower, though.
KidZui 4 looks a lot like KidZui 3, but with a few options to better control the clutter.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)The big changes that kids and their parents will pick up on mainly involve smoother integration between the interface and the features. There's now a grid button on the bottom right that allows kids to jump back to their most recent search results after they've proceeded to a page. Videos now can be set to auto-play in the default mode as well as the maximized "Go Big" mode. The Explore and Friends navigation bars on the left and right side are now minimizable, expanding screen real estate for larger video and image viewing. This last change is significant since KidZui's interface can often feel cluttered and chaotic.
Changes to the social-networking tools include removing online/offline notifications from the Event stream in MyKidZui, which creates more space for tags and sharing with friends. Kids can also add an unlimited number of channels to keep track of. Overall, though, the program feels like it hasn't changed much since version 3, and that's a good thing for fans.
Seth peers into the deep, dark corners of software so that you don't have to. He has yet to suffer a single nightmare about OS/2. You can follow him on Twitter. 
1. They seem to have overlooked the most basic security features. You get to allow or disallow specific sites but it doesn't work on a folder or subdomain level. For example, you approve access to http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/ - the BBC site for kids - and Kidzui will approve ALL of bbc.co.uk even the non kid-safe areas, not just the cbeebies folder/section. Same problem with the CNN sub domain.
2. It's pretty simple for a kid to just close down the KidZui user interface and then voila - s/he has access to the browser to go ANYWHERE on the internet. Not cool. A password requirement on shutdown could have helped allieviate the problem (though smart kids could still use Alt + Tab to swap windows)
3. Ads: Ads keep popping up offering free SMS, jobs, others. None of the ads I've seen so far are unsuitable for kids but a) kids need to wait till the ad runs fully before proceeding to their chosen destination and b) they need to learn how to shut down each ad (some require them to have a reading age of six to recognise the shut window text)
4. Much of the good stuff is only available if you pay a monthly subscription.
- by gragggg May 6, 2009 10:54 AM PDT
- What is Kidzui? Kidzui is a kid friendly browser that according to their website it has?over a million kid-friendly websites, games, and YouTube videos.? Sounds wildly exciting?
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