Difference between revisions of "Windows screensaver"

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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - 3D Text.png|160x120px]] || 3D Text || Windows 95+ || Custom text or the time bounces around the screen, rendered in 3D, and with shifting colors. || 2 - Decent, although the movement patterns are wonky.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - 3D Text.png|160x120px]] || 3D Text || Windows 95+ || Custom text or the time bounces around the screen, rendered in 3D, and with shifting colors. || 2 - Decent, although the movement patterns are wonky.
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Baseball.png|160x120px]] || Baseball || Windows 98 || A few baseball stills randomly fade in and out on a diamond backdrop while stadium sounds are played. || 1 - Boring and causes burn-in on the field. Sounds get old fast and no customization.
 
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Blank Screen.png|160x120px]] || Blank Screen || Windows 95 || Simply paints the screen black. || 1 - Effective, but dull.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Blank Screen.png|160x120px]] || Blank Screen || Windows 95 || Simply paints the screen black. || 1 - Effective, but dull.
 
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Blocks.png|160x120px]] || Blocks || Windows 95+ || The screen is filled with blocks whose faces are made from the how the screen last appeared. || 2 - A modern take on the old Windows 3 screensavers.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Blocks.png|160x120px]] || Blocks || Windows 95+ || The screen is filled with blocks whose faces are made from the how the screen last appeared. || 2 - A modern take on the old Windows 3 screensavers.
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Channel Screen Saver.png|160x120px]] || Channel Screen Saver || Windows 98 || Shows images from the various online Web "channels" you've set up. || 2 - Interesting at the time, but now, even the Microsoft channel is defunct.
 
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Curves and Colors.png|160x120px]] || Curves and Colors || Windows 95 || A Bézier curve bounces around the screen changing colors and leaving trails. || 2 - Interesting to look at.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Curves and Colors.png|160x120px]] || Curves and Colors || Windows 95 || A Bézier curve bounces around the screen changing colors and leaving trails. || 2 - Interesting to look at.
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Flying Windows.png|160x120px]] || Flying Windows || Windows 95 || Like "Flying Through Space," but with the Windows logo. Microsoft tried to get people to take pride in Windows the way Apple geeks were with Macintosh, but the Microsoft user base has never been "hip." || 1 - Shameless self promotion.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Flying Windows.png|160x120px]] || Flying Windows || Windows 95 || Like "Flying Through Space," but with the Windows logo. Microsoft tried to get people to take pride in Windows the way Apple geeks were with Macintosh, but the Microsoft user base has never been "hip." || 1 - Shameless self promotion.
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Inside Your Computer.png|160x120px]] || Inside Your Computer || Windows 98 || Rendered circuit components fly across a poorly-colored circuit board. Occasional beeps and clicks are heard. || 1 - The low color count makes it look terrible, and the sound effects are annoying.
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Jungle.png|160x120px]] || Jungle || Windows 98 || Jungle flora and fauna are randomly drawn to the screen while jungle sounds are occasionally played. || 2 - The art is pretty and the sounds are nice, but there isn't any customization.
 
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Lens.png|160x120px]] || Lens || Windows 95+ || One of several lenses bounces around the screen, distorting it. || 2 - The different lens styles are interesting to play with, but the excitement doesn't last.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Lens.png|160x120px]] || Lens || Windows 95+ || One of several lenses bounces around the screen, distorting it. || 2 - The different lens styles are interesting to play with, but the excitement doesn't last.
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Leonardo da Vinci.png|160x120px]] || Leonardo da Vinci || Windows 98 || Random sketches of Da Vinci scroll onto the screen, and are then poorly animated. || 1 - Pretty dull and no customization.
 
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| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Mystify Your Mind.png|160x120px]] || Mystify Your Mind || Windows 95 || 2D polygons bounce around the screen and fade colors. Based on "Dancing Lines" from [[IdleWild]]. Not possible to install in Windows Vista and above which have an existing screensaver with the same name. || 2 - Simple, but mildly zen.
 
| [[Image:Windows Screensaver - Mystify Your Mind.png|160x120px]] || Mystify Your Mind || Windows 95 || 2D polygons bounce around the screen and fade colors. Based on "Dancing Lines" from [[IdleWild]]. Not possible to install in Windows Vista and above which have an existing screensaver with the same name. || 2 - Simple, but mildly zen.

Revision as of 13:50, 25 March 2020

This page is about the screensavers bundled with Windows over the years. Microsoft released a standalone program called IdleWild to add screensavers to Windows 3, but, starting with Windows 95, they started bundling them directly into their OS. However, the tie to IdleWild remains as the default screensaver icon for Windows 95 was the IdleWild icon.

Screensavers

Example Name OS Description Opinion
Windows Screensaver - 3D Flower Box.png 3D Flower Box Windows 95+ A colorful cube bounces around the screen, and it's points shift inward giving it a passing resemblance to a flower. 1 - Interesting for a few seconds. Really needed more customization.
Windows Screensaver - 3D Maze.png 3D Maze Windows 95+ A small maze is randomly generated and and the camera moves around inside of it. 2 - Looks interesting at first, but flaws quickly become apparant. There is little customization, the textures are ugly, walls are paper thin, the 3-turn exit of a dead-end is clunky, etc.
Windows Screensaver - 3D Flying Objects.png 3D Flying Objects Windows 95+ One of several 3D objects bounces around the screen. 2 - A couple of the objects are interesting, but, overall this is dull. The Windows logo was again undesirable.
Windows Screensaver - 3D Pipes.png 3D Pipes Windows 95+ Colored pipes are randomly drawn. 2 - A nice effect, but otherwise dull.
Windows Screensaver - 3D Text.png 3D Text Windows 95+ Custom text or the time bounces around the screen, rendered in 3D, and with shifting colors. 2 - Decent, although the movement patterns are wonky.
Windows Screensaver - Baseball.png Baseball Windows 98 A few baseball stills randomly fade in and out on a diamond backdrop while stadium sounds are played. 1 - Boring and causes burn-in on the field. Sounds get old fast and no customization.
Windows Screensaver - Blank Screen.png Blank Screen Windows 95 Simply paints the screen black. 1 - Effective, but dull.
Windows Screensaver - Blocks.png Blocks Windows 95+ The screen is filled with blocks whose faces are made from the how the screen last appeared. 2 - A modern take on the old Windows 3 screensavers.
Windows Screensaver - Channel Screen Saver.png Channel Screen Saver Windows 98 Shows images from the various online Web "channels" you've set up. 2 - Interesting at the time, but now, even the Microsoft channel is defunct.
Windows Screensaver - Curves and Colors.png Curves and Colors Windows 95 A Bézier curve bounces around the screen changing colors and leaving trails. 2 - Interesting to look at.
Windows Screensaver - Flying Through Space.png Flying Through Space Windows 95 Slightly improved version of IdleWild's "Stars." 1 - By the time it came out, it was already old hat, and the stars are squares.
Windows Screensaver - Flying Windows.png Flying Windows Windows 95 Like "Flying Through Space," but with the Windows logo. Microsoft tried to get people to take pride in Windows the way Apple geeks were with Macintosh, but the Microsoft user base has never been "hip." 1 - Shameless self promotion.
Windows Screensaver - Inside Your Computer.png Inside Your Computer Windows 98 Rendered circuit components fly across a poorly-colored circuit board. Occasional beeps and clicks are heard. 1 - The low color count makes it look terrible, and the sound effects are annoying.
Windows Screensaver - Jungle.png Jungle Windows 98 Jungle flora and fauna are randomly drawn to the screen while jungle sounds are occasionally played. 2 - The art is pretty and the sounds are nice, but there isn't any customization.
Windows Screensaver - Lens.png Lens Windows 95+ One of several lenses bounces around the screen, distorting it. 2 - The different lens styles are interesting to play with, but the excitement doesn't last.
Windows Screensaver - Leonardo da Vinci.png Leonardo da Vinci Windows 98 Random sketches of Da Vinci scroll onto the screen, and are then poorly animated. 1 - Pretty dull and no customization.
Windows Screensaver - Mystify Your Mind.png Mystify Your Mind Windows 95 2D polygons bounce around the screen and fade colors. Based on "Dancing Lines" from IdleWild. Not possible to install in Windows Vista and above which have an existing screensaver with the same name. 2 - Simple, but mildly zen.
Windows Screensaver - Scrolling Marquee.png Scrolling Marquee Windows 95 Customizable text scrolls across the screen. 2 - Dull, but useful for companies or leaving a message.

Download

This archive contains all of the screensavers bundled with Windows 95, 95+, 98, ME, and NT 4. I still need to setup a virtual machine for Windows 98 to get screenshots of the rest.

Links