13 Awesome Screensavers

April 16, 2008 · Print This Article

Who said screensavers were dead? Sure, our monitors dont really need them anymore and screen burn is a thing of the past, but some people still like them. I love them. I think they are great, so I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

POLARCLOCK
I have to start with Polar Clock. This is my favorite screensaver. This is version number 3 and it just keeps getting better and better. Its available for both Mac and Windows, and also as a dashboard widget for OSX Tiger.

FLYING TOASTERS
I remember when I got my first screensaver. It was the flying toasters screensaver pack called….ummmm…..I cant remember. I think it was made by Berkely Systems or something like that. Anyway, there was a heap of screensavers on there and Flying Toasters was one of them.

FAAR CLOCK A giant Analog clock that looks fanastic, and it tells you the time!

TWINGLY
Using RSS Feeds from blogs around the world, Twingly plots where the activity is happening on a spinning globe.

FLIP CLOCK
Yep, another clock screensaver. I guess I like clock screensavers. What can I say? This one looks like one of those old fashioned flip clocks.

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH
Would you call me a liar if I told you that this screensaver has actually been made by Microsoft? Go ahead, click the link and you will be taken to the Microsoft website! This Microsoft screensaver cycles between different Blue Screens and simulated boots every 15 seconds or so. Virtually all the information shown on Bluescreen’s BSOD and system start screen is obtained from your system configuration!

HAND WRITTEN CLOCK
Before you groan, yes I am aware that I have added another clock to this list. But clock screensavers have double the value of other screensavers. Firstly, its a screensaver and secondly, its a clock. This one is cool because the numbers are handwritten, with a hand coming in each time to write the new number. This includes seconds!

ELECTRIC SHEEP
Now this is one cool screensaver. It is actually open source and thousands of people have contributed to it. How do they contribute? Well, when their computers “sleep”, the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as “sheep”. Its fantastic.

FIRE
This one is cool. Its sets your desktop on fire. Each and every item on your desktop - including icons and all open windows will appear to catch on fire, glowing and emitting a smoke. If you have your sound on, the fire will even crackle and pop.

DANCING JAPANESE GIRLS
This one is a little weird. Its a clock, that flick to a group of Japanese girls dancing, then flicks back to a clock. If dancing Japanese girls and clocks are your thing, then this combines into the perfect screensaver for you.

DIGG
All of the products from Digg Labs are now available as scrrensavers. My favorite is Stack, but you can also download BigSpy, Swarm and Arc.

STAR TREK SYSTEM 47
This one is for all the nerds who love Star Trek. Personally, Im a Star Wars fan, but I do like this screensaver. It turns your desktop into the library system from Star Trek. It will runs scans of the universe and the Enterprise.

FIREFLIES
This one is just too pretty to leave out.

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Star Trek and Nine Inch Nails Video Clip

Comments

118 Responses to “13 Awesome Screensavers”

FatBoy on April 17th, 2008 11:58 pm

Wicked list man!
Craig on April 21st, 2008 4:18 pm

Dont mention it!!

Craigs last blog post..Top Adsense Plugins for Wordpress
Bob on April 24th, 2008 3:21 am

If you find a bad ass aquarium screen saver. Post it!
MaximusMMIV on April 24th, 2008 4:38 am

The flying toasters came from Active Dark. I remember when that was the coolest thing ever made.
jt on April 24th, 2008 8:10 am

Flying Toasters was one of the plug-ins for the AfterDark application.
Rabbit on April 24th, 2008 8:40 am

The flying toaster screen saver is called “After Dark.” I still have it on floppies.
Devin on April 24th, 2008 8:52 am

Flying Toasters was in the screensaver pack…. Wait for it!… After Dark!
Hey on April 24th, 2008 9:00 am

#2 was a program called “after dark”
sandy on April 24th, 2008 9:53 am

Love the star trek one! Thanks so much. Sandy (stumbler)
Craig on April 24th, 2008 11:34 am

After Dark!!

Of course!!!

The memories are all flodding back.

Thanks guys

Craigs last blog post..The Bloggers Blog
Ghost on April 24th, 2008 1:39 pm

Fantastic list I love new screen savers and there a few here that are now a must! Thanks so much!
Ghost (stumbler)
Perry on April 24th, 2008 8:37 pm

If you actually want a unique screensaver, download the applet from World Community Grid. You can contribute to cancer research, help develop better AIDS medication, help predict climate patterns, etc.

Or just go directly to BOINC, a similar system that is open source.
[KwZ] on April 25th, 2008 12:26 am

The Chirp Screen it’s also a cool wallpaper.

[KwZ]s last blog post..Cuarto video del Grupo Marrano
Anonymous on April 25th, 2008 1:13 am

Since this list is addressed to geeks lets make a geeky clarification. The Blue Screen Of Death screen saver was not made by Microsoft but by Sysinternals. Sysinternals also made a lot of useful utilities for windows which they distribute them for free. Later Microsoft bought Sysinternlas and their utilities together with the BSOD screensaver.

Some time ago I installed that screensaver in my work computer. 2-3 days later, while I was out of my office I got an angry call from my manager. He wanted to know WTF I did with the company’s computer and it was BSOD’ing and rebooting all the time. Once I explained to him he started laughing but I uninstalled it anyway because you never know who else might pass by.
KATIE!! on April 25th, 2008 8:32 am

Hey!
Wow, this is are some really cool screensavers!
Here I am, stumbling, looking for something interesting and there it is! I’m definitely going to download some of these!
Craig on April 25th, 2008 11:16 am

@Anonymous

Thanks for the update about the BSOD screensaver. I didnt know that. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Also, thanks to all the stumblers who have given this post the thumbs up?

Now if only it were on Digg……..

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Craig on April 25th, 2008 11:18 am

Actually, it is on Digg!

Woohoo. 22 Diggs and counting! Thanks to whoever placed that first Digg!

Craigs last blog post..Michael Jacksons Neverland Ranch at Night
Arty Scott on April 25th, 2008 5:59 pm

素晴らしいです。ありがとうございました。
Chuck on April 25th, 2008 11:38 pm

I actually have a “Flying Toasters” tie…..from After Dark
Jake on April 26th, 2008 1:34 am

No Flurry?

Also, the BSOD screensaver was made by Sysinternals, who were then bought by Microsoft.
Issac Cheriyathu on April 26th, 2008 4:32 am

I would like to add Dog to the awesome screen saver list. A dog start licking all over your screen, and there are different breeds (versions) available. I had a cue bull dog

Issac Cheriyathus last blog post..
James Carlos on April 26th, 2008 5:42 am

After Dark rocked.
Rebenga on April 26th, 2008 7:03 am

Windows only. Useless.
Craig on April 26th, 2008 10:18 am

@Rebenga
Sorry about that. Maybe I will do a MAC version of this post soon!

@James Carlos
After Dark did rock. It was probably one of the first pieces of software I purchased many, many years ago.

@Issac Cheriyathu
Do you have a link you can share for the Dog screensaver?

Craigs last blog post..Friday Funnies: Blue Screen of Death Collection
Bas on April 28th, 2008 1:21 am

Sweet, mate!!
andre on April 28th, 2008 8:45 pm

check it out http://www.kaleta.hr
Matthew on April 30th, 2008 1:06 am

Great list, stumbled on!
Yannis on April 30th, 2008 4:56 am

wow, great screen savers, I just finished downloading the TWINGLY. Very Nice!
OTTO on May 1st, 2008 10:56 pm

All these were great…except for the fireflies one…It kills my copy of vista every time :O
Craig on May 1st, 2008 10:58 pm

@OTTO
Thats interesting to here. I havent upgraed to Vista yet and I love the fireflies one. Runs perfectly on my XP machine….

Craigs last blog post..End of Month Results: April 2008
androo on May 1st, 2008 11:38 pm

great collection of screensavers… my favorite would be the multicolored spiral one…!

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Raman on May 2nd, 2008 1:30 am

Nice collection indeed!

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NatCudahy on May 5th, 2008 4:05 pm

The flying toaster pack is actually called After Dark, I used to have it on my mac damn…almost 15 years ago
Stumbler Extraordinaire on May 8th, 2008 12:52 am

Great list!
Stumbled upon this and love it. I am now using the Fire screensaver

“Rebenga on April 26th, 2008 7:03 am

Windows only. Useless.”

Not sure about the others, but Electric Sheep is available for MacOSX and various distros of Linux.
And how can the list be deemed “useless”? Because it offers screensavers for the most WIDELY USED personal desktop OS in the World???
Rebenga…your comments. Useless.
Craig on May 8th, 2008 10:45 am

@Stumbler Extraordinaire

Thanks for the feedback. I think Rebenga’s comments are valid. A majority of these screensavers are available for MAC.
MAC versions are available for:
Polar Clock, the Digg savers, Flying Toasters, Flip Clock, Electric Sheep, Fireflies and System 47.

I will do a MAC list one day down the track….
Keith on May 14th, 2008 2:50 pm

I unzipped the flipclock one and now it won’t let me delete the folder that the screensaver installer unzipped to. Any suggestions?
Craig on May 14th, 2008 3:23 pm

@Keith: I couldnt tell you. It might be best to email the makers via their website.

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