Finally someone was listening.  The Zune by Microsoft has family settings.  This means the Zune is a PMD that can be used by the kids.  With the family settings a child can go into the Zume Marketplace and browse safely.  They can download music that the parents approve of.  The children can set up their own collections and can safely participate in the Zune Social.

The options available for the family settings for Zune include purchases.  You can choose whether the children will be able to purchase music with the credit card on file or with Microsoft Zune Points.  Sometimes a parent can be really surprised at how many songs a child can buy in such a short time.  Limiting them to the points can help save your credit card.

The Zune Marketplace does contain some explicit content.  You can choose to set the family settings to not allow access to this explicit material.  This is perfect because most times when a child does not know it is available, they do not even ask for it.

As the parent, you can set the family settings to determine who can view your child's friends list and if anyone can invite your child to be friends.  You can even determine who can send your child a message.

All of these family settings apply to any child from the ages of 13 to 17.  Any child 12 years of age or younger is not allowed to be in the Zune Social Community.

The family settings will make sure that the only experience your child has on the Zune Social is the one you want for them.  This keeps your child safe.  The information shared is only what you want to have shared with your child and the Social community.

In order to set up a child account, you must first set up an account for yourself.  The user's guide states that you must have two Windows Live ID accounts already in place.  This would be one for you and one for your child.  A Live ID account is an MSN account, a Hotmail account, or an account at Xbox.com, Games for Windows, or Xbox Live.  You can also set up a Windows Live ID during account set up if you do not have one already.

By signing in and choosing to create a new account you can create a child account with your family settings.  You must first set up your account and then go back in to set up your child's account.  When you sign up your child you will be asked to sign into your account after the third step of setting up the child.  This will ensure that you can select the family settings you want to have associated with your child's account.  This is the perfect way to make sure your child is protected.

Once you have set up your child's account, he or she will be able to log on and enjoy the community.  Your child will be safe to browse the Zune Marketplace with no interference from explicit material or strangers.  The family settings Zune has instituted is one of the best features going for the PMD's on the market today.