screen saver

As part of OS X, Apple provides a number of styled screensaver options for displaying photographs and images you have stored in your iTunes or Aperture libraries when you are not at your computer. These options are fun to use; however, they are quite limited in the settings they offer, as there are practically no options to customize them.

At most, you can set the screensaver to shuffle the slide order and choose a source for the photos, but you cannot change the duration of the transitions or perhaps, more importantly for some people, the time in which the screensaver … Read more

My Living Desktop is an enhancement for your Mac that lets you show a moving video loop as your desktop background (or screensaver) and it's gotten a lot of new features in recent updates.

Once the program is installed on your Mac, you can choose from 28 high-definition video scenes (six scenes in the trial) to either play as a screensaver or as a moving background while you work. The app comes with audio as well so you can immerse yourself into the widely varied living environments from snowy scenes to calming beach views. If you want more variety … Read more

A problem some Mac users have been experiencing with OS X Lion is an issue where their desktop backgrounds are showing as a bland gray color instead of the designated picture or pattern. This happens randomly after the systems have been woken from sleep, and when it occurs, the background will not change even if you manually try to reset it.

It appears that this occurrence is a problem with the management of multiple monitors and desktops, which in OS X is the responsibility of the Dock. When this problem happens, you can usually correct it by using Activity Monitor … Read more

There's really no need for screensavers anymore--modern computer screens don't run the risk of phosphor burn-in from static images that their predecessors did--but that doesn't stop people from using screensavers for aesthetic reasons. Electric Sheep is one of the more aesthetically pleasing and unique screensavers we've encountered, and we recommend it for anyone who's looking for something a little more exciting than typical screensaver motifs.

Electric Sheep creates psychedelic animations, called sheep, that users can then vote for or against; the more popular sheep have their "genetic code" passed on, and over time … Read more

Do you want to install Lion on your Mac, but use a program that extends your display? Not so fast.

You might need to first update the programs or even uninstall them to avoid a screensaver-related bug they could cause in Lion.

As Apple adds new services, device support, and other features to OS X, the included programming libraries that developers use to write their code also change, which can lead to problems. In the case of display management and extension programs, while the programs still function as they should, changes in the frameworks they use can prevent the system … Read more

The Screen Saver options in OS X Lion are no different from those offered in Snow Leopard, and like Snow Leopard are available to configure in the Desktop & Screen Saver system preferences. As a result, you should expect the screensavers to behave as they did in Snow Leopard; however, a few people are noticing after upgrading to Lion that their screensavers seem to be randomly activating.

If this problem is happening to you, first try adjusting some of your Screen Saver settings by either changing the screensaver, adjusting its activation time, or setting various hot corners that you may … Read more

A well-done screensaver can have a surprisingly big impact, letting you imagine--however briefly--that you're not actually stuck in a cubicle, but are in a relaxing, bucolic setting. 3 Free Dancing Fountains Screen Saver seeks to transport viewers by superimposing digitally created fountains on three attractive still images. The effect is not entirely realistic, but the screensaver isn't a bad choice for fountain fans.

Once installed, the program appears in the Windows Display Properties menu with all of the other screensavers. We thought that the screensaver might have some settings--perhaps to adjust the speed or pattern of the fountains--but … Read more

Defragmenting your hard disk has always been a good idea, but now it's easier than ever, thanks to utilities like Auslogics Disk Defrag Screen Saver. It automatically defragments your disk when your system is idle, which helps keep your data from becoming fragmented in the first place. Not only that, but it also sports a cool, updated version of the old Windows defragmentation map that tracks the tool's progress in real time.

Disk Defrag Screen Saver shows up in your list of screensavers after installation, and you select it like any other. There's a Settings dialog with … Read more

There was some excitement about trying 3D Desktop Bunny Rabbits Screen Saver. We like bunnies, and it sounded like it might be cute. Unfortunately, this program didn't quite live up to expectations. Although this screensaver is somewhat entertaining, the mediocre graphics really undermine its quality.

The first strike against this screensaver was the terrible interface to the program's options and settings. Although 3D Desktop Bunny Rabbits functions well enough, and all its commands are pretty basic and fairly easy to understand, the interface is a cluttered mess of italics and exclamation points, an immediate turn-off. We did like … Read more