Safe Eyes 5.0 covers more bases than any other parental control program. The software provides licenses for three computers (PC or Mac) and can block 35 categories of inappropriate Web sites. The controls are easy to configure; we had no problem setting up a two-hour Internet-usage time limit and controlling which programs could access the Internet. When we tried searching for the term “Playboy” in Google, the program prevented it from showing search results. In addition, searching for “breast” returned only informative links about breast cancer, devoid of any nude pictures of women.

More good news: this is one of the only parental control solutions that can record when personal information, such as an address or phone number, is posted to a social networking site. Safe Eyes’ instant-message monitor records and saves the full text of IM conversations from all the popular IM clients, including AIM, MSN/Windows Live. and Yahoo Messenger. Even more impressive is the online activity log, which can alert parents via e-mail, text message, or phone when a user is trying to access restricted sites. Safe Eyes 5.0 works with multiple browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Verdict: Safe Eyes’ easy-to-control interface and powerful controls, especially for social networking protection, will leave parents anxiety-free.