Peach OSI's - "Peach Kids" is now ready for download!!

Special Features installed in this version of Peach OSI named Peach Kids. Click on "Read More" below for more information about Peach Kids.     Peach Kids has been pre-configured to automatically play CDs and DVDs. Peach Kids will also automatically recognize iPhones when plugged in via USB and the initial support needed for Android devices is already installed (below you will find more information regarding Androids). Support for HDMI TV’s and Media Center infra-red remote controls is already pre-installed as well. Support for Bluetooth devices is also pre-installed. You will need to initially pair any Bluetooth device to Peach Kids after which Peach Kids should automatically recognize your Bluetooth devices.  Most NVidia graphic cards will also be configured and supported during the installation process of Peach Kids.

Preamble:
 Open source does not necessarily mean "free". Donations are always welcome to keep the projects going. You can donate to the Peach OSI project @ www.peachosi.com. Thanks in advance. Peach Kids is certainly not free to create.

Disclaimer:
    This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.
Further more: We – Peach OSI - make no claims that “Peach Kids” can or will protect your child from the obvious dangers that any child may experience by using any computer operating system. You - as the adult - helping a child to use “Peach Kids” – by simply installing and allowing the child to use “Peach Kids” - you the parent, educator, guardian and/or the adult allowing any child to use “Peach Kids” assumes all responsibility thereof. You should read everything in this file to be better informed and equipped on how you should monitor any child’s activities while using “Peach Kids”.

Special Information for Parents, Educators, Guardians and other Adults:

    Peach Kids is especially designed for children from between the ages of – whatever age the child can navigate a mouse - to about age twelve. Of course this depends on the child. As the parent or adult allowing a child to use Peach Kids you should know some of the things that have been included for your child in this Peach release. Peach Kids has been designed from the ground up with small children in mind. Best of all, when your child gets older, he or she can easily move into one of our other Peach OSI distro flavors without missing a beat. We also invite you to try one or all of our other Peach OSI Linux OS flavors. All are available @ www.peachosi.com.

    The world famous web browser named Firefox is pre-installed. We have included an add-on to Firefox named Fox Web Security. When anyone using Peach Kids attempts to open a web page in Firefox, Fox Web Security will attempt to verify the content of that web page and check the page against known undesirable web sites. If the web page is found to be undesirable by the Fox Web Security add-on, the page will be diverted to a standard page explaining that the web page in question has been blocked. This is minimal protection but it is better than nothing. It will keep the Peach Kid user out of many web sites that they otherwise would have open access to. Make no mistake – new web sites appear every day and the Fox Web Security add-on may not block every undesirable web site that is out there on the web.

    Kodi is installed: The Media center application named Kodi is pre-installed on Peach Kids and with this application your child can watch online cartoons, old TV shows, science programs, NASA and much more. You can also add more to Kodi now or as your child grows. You’ll find more information about Kodi from the file on the desktop named “Special Kodi Information.” Be sure to read through that file as well as this one. If there are any video add-ons pre-installed into Kodi that you do not want available to your child simply right click on that add-on and navigate to uninstall that or any other add-on. If you would like for your child to be able to use a remote control when using the Kodi Media Center you can find information about what to buy and how to set it up in the file named Peach OSI TV LTS on your desktop. Look for the heading “Setting  up Remote Control device with LIRC in Peach TV” inside of that file. Your remote control should work straight out of the box as we have already set Peach Kids and Kodi to work with any Microsoft Media Center Remote.

    Firefox bookmarks: We have placed many children’s bookmarks both in the bookmarks toolbar and in the standard bookmarks folder inside of the Firefox web browser. With those bookmarks your child can easily access many video tutorials for anything from learning to tie their shoes to counting to saying their ABC’s. These bookmarks can be deleted or added to at anytime. Use the bookmarks as they are as a template to how you can add more bookmarks to keep your child learning as time passes by.

    On Peach Kid’s desktop you will find 3 different desktop menu docks called Panels.

At the top you have the traditional Peach taskbar which includes a quick way to log off the current session on the top left. Then the typical XFCE “Applications” menu is next. XFCE is name of the desktop management system utilized by all of our Peach OS flavors. Then next to  the “Applications” menu you have access to the “Files” on your PC. The top menu also has several other functions. Clicking on each of them accesses different control applications. For instance, by clicking on the speaker looking icon you can access volume controls and other setup information regarding the sound on you PC. This is handy to know if your PC is connected to an HDMI TV. By clicking on the speaker and then clicking on “Sound Settings” you can navigate to “Configuration” to setup how you want sound delivered from your PC. You also have three possible desktop windows available in the top taskbar menu. With this feature a single monitor suddenly becomes like three monitors – meaning you can have multiple applications open – each in a different desktop window.

At the bottom we have prepared the “Kid’s” dock. Most of the software that your child will use is available in the bottom dock. This “Kid’s” dock is highly customizable. The bottom dock has been designed as a graphical way for your child to access the applications available on your PC. The mini icons are segregated into many different categories. Simply mouse over any icon item to receive a brief description of what application is opened by that icon.

On the right side we have included a “Parents” dock with configuration accessible applications available via multiple icons. Hold your mouse over any of the icons to get a brief description of the application that can be accessed by clicking on that icon. From this right side menu you can keep the Peach Kids OS updated, install additional software, configure a printer or access all of the necessary components to administer this operating system. We have set the right side dock to “intelligently” hide itself when the full screen is needed. If you would like to hide the right side dock – point your cursor just below the bubble that says “Peach OSI” and right click on the dock. Then select “Panel Preferences”. Make sure that you are working on Panel 1 in the window that opens and then set “Automatically hide the panel” to “Always” in the open panel window. Afterwards you’ll need to mouse all the way to the right side to access the right side “Parents” panel. By clicking on the “Parents” bubble icon a window will open where you can shut off or turn on any Wi-Fi or Ethernet access. By using this feature you can regulate how and when your child has Internet access by controlling access via your Wi-    Fi password or simply visually disconnect a hard wired Ethernet connection. Just below the “Parents” bubble icon you have access to the file folder that stores any and all of the installed applications via an icon that has a rocket ship on it. From this file folder you can drag and drop any of the applications to any of the 3 panels in order to create a quick link to open the application. You should update Peach at least weekly. An icon for updates is the fifth icon from the top – the one in orange with circular pointing arrows.

On the bottom dock the Mini Icon Categories are – from left to right –

Category 1: Word, Letter  or Reading Applications - 12 Applications total – an application to learn how to use a mouse, 2 typing tutor applications, an alphabet/letter game, a word processor to make typing easier, an E-Book storage application, a Dictionary, a Thesaurus, a tool to create Jclick projects, the Libre Office suite of applications and a direct link to Libre Writer.

Category 2: Math Applications and Tools – 8 Applications total – A math function plotter, a mathematical applet constructor, the Genius Mathematical Tool and Calculator, Libreoffice Math, an application to plot functions and graphs, an application to simulate simple physics variables, Tux Math Game and a graph theory tool for instructors and students.

 Category 3: Geography and Space Applications and Tools – 4 Applications total – a Geography Learning Program, How to Navigate Maps, Solar System Simulation, and a Planetarium.

 Category 4: Educational Games – 6 Applications total – an application meant to challenge verbal, auditory, logic and memory, a suite of educational applications, a photo puzzle game, another suite of educational games and applications by Gcompris, another small set of educational applications and a notepad for kids to organize their thoughts.

 Category 5: Music, Musician and Musical Applications  – 6 Applications total – an application to help tune a guitar, a guitar effects processor, a piano playing game, the Qsynth application for learning to use a synthesizer, a drum sequencer and an application to learn musical score notation.

 Category 6: Games for Fun  – 8 Applications total – a Rally Race Car Game, a Soccer Game, a Robots Game, Extreme Tux Racer Game, a Rabbit Eats Veggies Game, The Classic Atom Game, an Educational Puzzle Game like High-Q and a Constructor Game.

 Category 7: Photography, Image Editing and Drawing Applications  – 10 Applications total – Create Virtual Objects with Lego Like Blocks, 2D Animation Art Application, Tux Paint - a drawing application especially for children, an application to edit photos and   manage image and photographic collections, Gimp, the world famous image editor with our special Peach Photo Shop like configurations, Inkscape the vector graphics creator and editor, Entangle – connect your camera or phone to transfer images, Libre Draw, an application to make moving images from SD Cards, flash drives or cameras easier to move into Peach Kids and an application to create your own screen cast of characters.

 Category 8: Computer Programming for Children  – 4 Applications – Turtle (Learn basic programming skills with a turtle), Ants (Learn how to applications with ants and spider webs), Tanks (Learn Java applications scripts by building a tank game), and Robots ( Learn to applications by building and manipulating on-screen robots.

    You will notice that there are two clocks on the desktop – a digital clock in the upper right hand corner and an analog clock set under the Workspace Window Switcher. We included the analog clock as a way to help to familiarize your child with both types of clocks. The analog clock does not have any numerals on it for a reason. You can teach your child to count the different segments – 1 through 12 – as the hour hand moves around the analog clock and compare the resulting time to the digital readout in the other clock. If you’d prefer not to have the analog clock simply right click on the clock and then select remove. The panel that is the place holder for the clock will still be there but you can remove it as well. The panel placeholder is Panel #3.

    I could go on and on about the features that we’ve tried to implement into Peach Kids. This Linux distro has been the tougher to put together than any other that I’ve ever been a part of. The reason is obvious. It’s about children using computers. Over 2 years of planning, thinking and research have gone into Peach Kids. I’m sure there will be those who will say we could have done more. But considering that there is a 4 GB ceiling for an ISO (which is what you installed from to your PC) to get this far with Peach Kids. I do believe that we’ve packed a ton of software and applications into such a small 4 GB of space. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just contact us by email from our website located at www.peachosi.com. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you..