Windows screensaver
Revision as of 10:16, 25 March 2020 by TheAlmightyGuru (talk | contribs)
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
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. | |
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. | |
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. | |
3D Pipes | Windows 95+ | Colored pipes are randomly drawn. | 2 - A nice effect, but otherwise dull. | |
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. | |
Blank Screen | Windows 95 | Simply paints the screen black. | 1 - Effective, but dull. | |
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. | |
Curves and Colors | Windows 95 | A Bézier curve bounces around the screen changing colors and leaving trails. | 2 - Interesting to look at. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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.