http://www.opendns.com/familys... (no signup necessary) - Tinfoil 2.0

What operating system? If you're using Linux, I'd highly recommend TuxPaint (which is also available for Windows) and GCompris (a suite of educational games/activities for Gnome) - Curdy G

http://projects.gnome.org/nanny... - ovigia

It's Windows XP. Hadn't even considered putting Linux on it. Just restored it back to factory default settings. - Rah-PM 2012

why not gnu/linux? saves you from future virus, malware nightmares ;) take a look http://www.lifehack.org/article... ; http://www.brighthub.com/computi... - ovigia

I have Linux Mint running on the computer that my daughter uses. It's been great. Runs faster than XP, fewer issues to worry about, etc. - Curdy G

My logic was in keeping him mostly compatible with the rest of the world as far as school/friends go, but I guess I hadn't really thought about it. I'll definitely need to look at the Linux solution....hrm. - Rah-PM 2012

Because of your question i've done some google search about the issue....when you've got time take a look...http://friendfeed.com/debian... - ovigia

JoliOS is pretty barebones and basic. - Rodfather

You guys are awesome. Stuff I hadn't even thought about. - Rah-PM 2012

I completely understand the desire to help him be compatible/comfortable with the computers/programs his friends are using; but introducing him to Linux will actually help him learn to be more flexible (he'll still get to use Windows at school) and helps you avoid the annoying adware/spyware downloads that all of his friends are grabbing. On top of that, so much data is kept in the cloud, now, that he'll hardly miss too much. Finally, as I started to mention above, you'll find a lot more free software made specifically for kids available on Linux. :) - Curdy G

All that said, though, just to be safe, you might want to just shrink the XP partition, install Linux beside it and set up a dual-boot with a 0 or 1 second timeout (so it loads Linux automatically unless you explicitly choose to boot into XP for some reason) - Curdy G

Yeah, I was thinking a dual-boot solution might be best, just so he has options. I'm pretty much going to have it locked down, so I don't foresee many challenges with virii and such. Plus, I want to make sure it's primarily a learning tool. - Rah-PM 2012

Instead of installing linux, why not run the LiveCD of Edubuntu? Then have your kid watch the videos from Khan Academy. :P - imabonehead

The last time I tried JoliOS, it was a Windows install and used a folder on the Window's drive to hold the virtual partition. You can dual boot and if you want to get rid of JoliOS, you can just uninstall it. No messing with repartitioning. - Rodfather

Do you need any recommendations for XP, for are you going Linux? - Eric - Ball So Hard

At very least, I'm going to dual-boot or something similar, so XP recommendations are definitely welcome :) - Rah-PM 2012

It's pretty old, so ensure you keep an eye on any startup programs. IE is going to be S L O W, so load up Pale Moon or something speedy. Use WOT or another plugin to warn against nasty sites. I agree with using OpenDNS for surf control, no extra software. Of course, get an anti-virus program, Microsoft Security Essentials is easy and free. If you don't have MS Office, you can download LibreOffice or rely on online SaaS apps like Google Docs or MS Office online. Use LogMeIn free with a free account so that you can gain remote control of that PC from anywhere. - Eric - Ball So Hard

With Windows or Linux, TuxPaint can provide hours of fun for the kid. If he's going to be at all involved in music/sound editing like you are, Audacity is a great place to start (also available for Windows and Linux). GIMP might be a good program to install on both platforms, too. - Curdy G

Do kids really need a kids computer? I'd think the most they would need these days is a browser to get on Youtube to watch Thomas the Train videos. - Rodfather

YouTube? Hrm...is there a way to filter that? :) - Rah-PM 2012

@Rodfather - Depending on the speed/reliability of your Internet connection, kids may not even spend much time on YouTube. @Rah - Not sure exactly what you'd filter. If you're not logged into Google; and haven't specifically set your account to allow "unsafe" searches, YouTube will be somewhat filtered. Other than that, I can't think of a way (unless you wanted to block YouTube altogether) to filter it out. - Curdy G

Ah...ok. I guess that's enough. I've seen some raunchy stuff there, but I probably messed with my settinsg....don't remember. - Rah-PM 2012