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Run a ScreenSaver on Your Desktop |
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 I was sitting there staring at my desktop this morning, thinking how cool it would be if you could animate your static desktop image. That's when I remembered a post by Jonathan way back in the mists of time when Jaguar first came out that told how you could run a ScreenSaver in the background.
At the time, I had tried the trick out, but I never had a machine beefy enough to run a ScreenSaver in the background as a full-time job. Well, things are different now - not only do I have a faster Mac, but there's also an application that does the dirty command-line stuff for you.
It's called CoolBackground, and it also lets you select the ScreenSaver module for you. It's pretty basic, but still very useful:
Use it to impress friends, family, and perhaps most importantly, PC users! On my 12" PowerBook G4 I have it set to the 'Cosmos' Screensaver. It's not that processor intensive and hasn't slowed me down a bit. Here you can sort of see when two images cross-fade into each other:
Click images to enlarge
I also have access to a PowerMac G5 at work, and I use it's processors a bit more intensively, with the Red Pill ScreenSaver (think Matrix).
Note that you can also quit the program after you start a ScreenSaver and it will keep going. Also, any ScreenSavers that use Quicktime (I have an "iPod Rock" one and a "Pot Noodle" one) stay on the level above all your applications, obscuring your view. Stay away from these ones or you'll have a bitch of a time turning the ScreenSaver off. I would also recommend something with a 1Ghz G4 or better processor.
So go forth and make your desktop even cooler and PC users even more jealous! Enjoy ;-)
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October 21 2004, 2:35 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| nhmacusr |
10/21/04, 4:06 PM EDT |
Cool app! That matrix in the background looks really cool.
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