[sputnik]

So I'm surfing Apple.com and come across a comparison of Jag and older OS's.They have a grid with something called "Animated Desktops"....What is this?

 

[elmer]

Actually there are animated desktops - I do not know of any free ones, but here is one:
Marine Aquarium for Mac OS X (Prolific Publishing)

Also, you can use any Screen Effect as your desktop, using this command published on macosxhints.com

 

[parousia]

this is much easier
http://www.gideonsoftworks.com/xback.html

Parousia

 

[Strongblade]

I suspect they are referring to the ever-changing desktop background feature in OS 10.2. It allows you to have a new background appear either every time you start up, or once an hour or even every 5 seconds.

If your video card is Quartz Extreme capable, there is a lovely fade to next image aspect to it.

It's like a desktop slideshow!

 

[Chealion]

Wow! This is sooo cool! If you got some spare CPU cycles, its actually quite nice... actually makes your computer seem more interactive and even a little alive.

 

[hayesk]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chealion:
Wow! This is sooo cool! If you got some spare CPU cycles, its actually quite nice... actually makes your computer seem more interactive and even a little alive.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, I've been running the Forest screen saver as my desktop for quite a while now. It's really nice and I haven't noticed a slowdown of my machine much at all.

 

[Tomac]

Backlight is comparable to xback. You can get it from http://freshlysqueezedsoftware.com/products/freeware.fss Love having the marine aquarium screensaver as a desktop.

They have some other cool downloads as well.

 

[Cynical Critic]

Excuse my negative (or nay-saying) attitude but what the heck is that point of an animated desktop?

Do people spend that much time staring at their desktop. I find it an odd concept because either I use my computer or I do something else.

I guess it's nostalgia for screen savers and - going further back - lava lamps.

 

[VertiGoGo]

I tried downloading that fish aquarium thingy...but could not get the bugger to launch. What is up with that???

 

[CubaMark]

As cool as the animated desktop is, it's really just "eye-candy". I want functionality: Let me designate a live video stream as my desktop background. The possibilities are endless:

- allows parents who work at home to keep an eye on the kids
- videoconferencing
- cool shot of earth from space, realtime (okay, eye candy, but 'way cool eye candy!)

'course, we'll need a quad-processor G8 to do it...


M

 

[Cynical Critic]

Well if I had a G8 processor maybe I'd change my tune. . .

 

[Chealion]

It's all eye candy and knowing you have the ability to do more then just pictures. Its more of a mental thing, knowing you have the power to move from the stationary to moving. Personally, I have xBack running all the time now, so when I see my desktop, it seems alive so that the computer gives an impression that its working and willing to serve (if you will, although that sounds really harsh).

 

[Strongblade]

I use backlight. And what it does is allow you to run a Screensaver as a background.

Impressed the hell out of the PC-nerds at work.

Seems they couldn't get their machines to do that... Pity...

 

[Heart]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CubaMark:
... we'll need a quad-processor G8 to do it...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No one is supposed to know about that yet .....

shhhh!