Family safety: Feedback on recent changes to multi-device management

Anonymous
2015-04-22T12:54:35+00:00

Put simply, it's unacceptable.

For my child, why would I want to have to manage completely different sets of limits, curfew, blocked/allowed games, allowed ratings, etc for every device to which they log in?

This needs to go back to the old way where the child's account spanned all devices to which they've logged in.

Furthermore, when attempting to manage this new format, here's what I see in my Family Safety area:

How is this helpful at all? Nowhere on this screen do I know the device for which I'm altering the settings. If I click another instance of my child's name, I have no idea which device that is going to either.

I also have a sneaking suspicion this recent change is what is causing so many parents to have settings not taking effect, etc. They're probably altering the settings for the wrong device (because they have no clue where they're at in the system and I don't blame them) or the backend is simply doing things wrong.

Please fix this.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-07-01T17:58:58+00:00

    I feel like I answered this. 

    I homeschool.

    I have a special need childs that cannot regulate herself. (case in point, she is out there crying that her computer is not useable until the new drive shows up - because she has been over playing a game that I have been unable to block. I click block, it keeps going, it has been rough here - I even tried to reduce her hours and it hasn't worked)

    If I want to give her time in the morning, then take it away until after dinner I need the ability to do that. People USED the features you have given them. in my case, the Family Safety settings were way more useable to me than the ones that Apple uses in their OS X. Which meant, when it was time to buy computers for the kids - the ONLY REASON i bought a Windows product was because of MS Family Safety. 

    it was an amazing feature.... and now, well, now it isn't. You stripped everything that made it great away. My kids all use MS accounts to log in, their setups already followed them from device to device.

    For me, as a former NT System Admin, that left the computer room and NEVER EVER bought or use another windows device for 11 years.... to then have bought FOUR in the last 11 months, just because of Family safety... well, that is huge. HUGE.

    And you blew it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-07-01T17:47:14+00:00

    I have indeed done all that, and I see the monitored message - and I get the requests when she asks for something.

    Unless she hands me the computer to approve them there - nothing sticks. I have been trying to add websites to her list for weeks. It adds on the website, i see it, I come back to there.... and it is gone. It could just be a problem with her account - who knows.

    As i mentioned in another response today - I'm saved from it all because the hard drive in the computer in question crashed overnight and now i'm awaiting Dell to overnight me a new one. 

    Problem solved - start from scratch. Ever so looking forward to entering and blocking all those websites again.... NOT. It was so nice to be able to copy them from other accounts. 

    I'm frustrated - everything WORKED, and WORKED WELL before these changes.... which are a HUGE step backwards.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-07-01T17:44:48+00:00

    Thanks for the feedback AlwaysDriving! (And to the rest of you - these stories are really important).

    AlwaysDriving, could you give me a specific example of how you scheduled the day through Family Safety? What were the situations in which that flexibility became important, and what features did you use for your family?

    are you on the dev team or what?

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-07-01T17:40:46+00:00

    Thanks for the feedback AlwaysDriving! (And to the rest of you - these stories are really important).

    AlwaysDriving, could you give me a specific example of how you scheduled the day through Family Safety? What were the situations in which that flexibility became important, and what features did you use for your family?

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-07-01T17:35:07+00:00

    Dozens of parents have posted many dozens of posts in these forums explaining their needs. The grid is needed, the ability to manage each child's settings in one place, not one place for each device they use, etc. No, I do not feel the simplified design is any kind of improvement. They took away good functionality and replaced it with a system that their users simply do not like or want.

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