Kids like to play games; that's a fact of life, right? Windows Vista makes it easier than ever for your kids to find and play their games, without interfering with the parents' applications or files. Vista also has utilities for helping you optimize your system's performance for gaming.

Using the Games Folder

The Games submenu on the Start menu (select Start > All Programs > Games) contains shortcuts for the games that come with Vista; however, you can place shortcuts there for other games that you install as well. That way, all the games are in one place, where kids (and you) can easily find them. To make this process even easier, the Games folder also has a shortcut on the top level of the Start menu (select Start > Games). This opens a window that shows the contents of the Games submenu and window, as shown in Figure 4-11.

Figure 4-11: Browse the installed games from the Games folder.

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Optimizing the System for Game Performance

Windows Vista offers system performance ratings that can let you know how well your hardware can run Vista and what you can do to improve it. To see this in action, follow these steps:

1. In the Control Panel, click System and Maintenance.
2. Click Performance Information and Tools.
3. Note the performance information that appears.

In Figure 4-12, for example, the lowest score is Graphics (Desktop performance for Windows Aero). Gaming graphics has a higher score than the base graphics; however, graphics are still the lowest ratings for this system. This indicates that to achieve better gaming performance, this system could benefit from a better display adapter.

Figure 4-12: Evaluating system performance.

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After installing new hardware, recheck your system to update its score. To do so, click Update my score in the Rate and improve your computer's performance screen and follow the prompts.

Configuring a Game Controller

Game controllers include joysticks, gaming pads, and other input devices specifically designed for gaming. Windows Vista has a special application for configuring them. To launch it, open the Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then click Game Controllers.

Make sure the game controllers are plugged into a USB (universal serial bus) port so Windows can recognize them.

Next, learn how to set parental controls to filter Web content, limit computer usage, and more.