What Happened To Screensavers? 

I remember people running Windows NT as a server wondering why performance dropped when they walked away from the computer. They were (usually) running the 3d pipes screen saver and it sucked up all of the cpu cycles!

My dad uses a screensaver called Electric Sheep on his computer. He’s been using it for years. I remember when I was little, I would just sit and stare at the screen, utterly transfixed by the pretty light show that was displayed.

We used to have an After Dark Star Trek version screen saver that I really liked for our 486 PC back in the day...The last SS I've used was in the early 2000's, there was a custom "Matrix" SS with raining green characters like from the movie :)

Back in the late 90's I had a screensaver with Pamela Anderson, those were the good times. 😁

With my P. F. Magic Petz games, I was able to have my petz running around my computer screen as a screen saver.

I always found it soothing to just sit and watch Mystify bounce around the screen.

I liked brickwall maze screensavior from windows 98. It was mesmorizing to watch when I was a kid.

The newer Macs still have em, I just dont see em much since I dont leave my computer on very often.

Crazy how we are going backwards with OLED burn in being an issue now.

I still use xscreensaver. All those old screensavers on demand

My phone (Motorola G7 Plus, amazon sale) Burns images into the screen pretty quickly. If I watch something else, turn the brightness down or shut the screen off it goes back to normal in a minute or so. I was so worried it would stay, but apparently it's a feature to remind me what I'm doing to my eyes 😂

on another note, i liked the windows media video player, that was real trippy.

My flying windows . scr will no longer turn on & I can't figure out why so now I have to physically turn off my brand new ultrawide. EVERY TIME

For some reason I thought I’d see Minecraft Plus mentioned here.

Was wondering this for a long time, well thought of.

Now I want to play The Guardian Legend.

I thought you meant the TV show for G4tv

with the advent of Windows 7 in late 2000s, I've consider the bubble screensavers as part of nostalgia

Its amazing that we might actually need screen savers back again with the advent of OLED lmaooo

The 3D text screen saver is actually useful because it can be used to show the time

Bring them back

Some of my favorite early computer-related memories involve screensavers. I had one that showed a bunch of macaroni men dancing to the Macarena, and I used to drive my mom insane by letting it play all the time. Of course, you also had the old Windows classics like Pipes, Mystify, Beziers, and many others, which were awesome because you could customize them to use different colors, textures, speeds, and such.

The 3D Pipe Screen Saver would also occasionally render a Teapot, that being a reference shape for some reason.

I used to work at Office Depot and our Princeton Graphics Super Bright LCD display had our corporate logo burned into it. It apparently wasn't actually burned into the LCD, but the front glass discolored permanently, and you could see our logo when the display was OFF!

My favourite screensaver in the late 90s was a fish tank that had actual 3d tropical fish, and they swam around quite convincingly.

The real thing that made screen savers obsolete was the ability for the PC to power the screen down. Once you could turn off the monitor automatically it made no sense to keep it on just to show a screen saver.

I still miss the flying toasters and "Bad Dog". But one of the most interesting screen savers was SETI@Home. That one actually crunched data from radio telescopes looking for signs of intelligent life. It was the first really big distributing computing project and I was running that screen saver for the whole life of the project.

Those CD/DVD Standby Logos that we were trying to cheer to hit a corner are also very neato screensavers, just hoping that they were integrated to Windows instead of needing to download one

On OLED the best screen saver is a blank screen (there's actually a screen saver named like that), because all pixels are off then. Also this has a neat side effect, that if you use an OLED TV as a monitor, you don't have to wait for the startup sequence which otherwise you have to sit through if you constantly switch on/off the display.

I think there's one point missing: screen savers started falling out of favor once power management in monitors became a thing. Nowadays the screen just gets turned off automatically after a period of inactivity instead of displaying flashy images, which achieves the same effect even on screens that can burn in, but makes way more sense from an eco standpoint. It kind of went full circle, as first screensavers were also just blanking the screen, although without completely turning it off.

They will be useful for OLED screens, I think.

What really killed the need for a screensaver was power management features where the computer tells the monitor to go to sleep and completly switch off the display. Uses less power than any screensaver and eliminates burn-in no matter what display you have.

That NES Screensaver is pretty cool. I always thought that a cool background or wallpaper would be some of those early 2000s games with bots. Something like OG Unreal Tournament as a screensaver probably would only use a small portion of a modern CPU, and would be fun to watch.

What I like about them is that they're one of the most unobtrusive ways to have a little extra personalization (which it feels like all the major operating systems are trying to take away more and more). The ones from back in the day still work if you have the files, and the files are not hard to find.

Wallpaper Engine continues the great tradition of mostly meaningless screensavering. I like it and you can't stop me.

Another factor is that modern screens power on immediately, so you can set them to just power off after a period of inactivity, and use them right away when you return. That's especially true for laptops, where turning the screen off saves a lot of energy.

I miss these. Please bring them back. Especially with oled monitors coming out now.

damn, i know i played a lot with it. experimenting with the settings, options and so much more. at times it was more fun than playing actual games.

I used to love the After Dark screensavers, they had a nice aquarium screensaver plus ofcourse the flying toasters.

I remember on Windows XP I had created a custom boot logo with KITT from Knight Rider, and the Windows loading bars were just where his scanner was and it looked awesome! I also changed the lockscreen background to a Knight Rider picture as well as made a KITT scanner screensaver for my PC. Golden days :D

Now you save power by simply putting the LCD into standby. Old LCDs had fluorescent tubes which would wear if turned off and on too often, modern ones have LED backlights which do wear by turning off and on. So, save power by turning off.

One of the best was Dream Aquarium, which displayed a very realistic tropical aquarium as either a screen saver or as a stand-alone app, and which was highly configurable with different backgrounds and fish. They even pooped ! Sadly it seems to have been abandoned by its creator - a genuine Hollywood special effects guy who created the "river horses" that washed away the Nazgul in LoTR.

The Insaniquarium Deluxe screensaver was my favourite back in the day. Virtual fish tank just loaded up and chilling there. Wasn't so great since there were a lot of pixels that didn't move around, but heck still looked great and I could always check how my fish were doing without having to load up the game

I still use screensavers because I just like looking at them. Not the boring default ones, but advanced picture slideshows or some 3D scenes. I also kinds of use it as a gauge for how long I've been absent. It may not be a critical thing, but it still is nice.

This makes me miss my childhood. I remember watching the screensavers pipes on the computer.

I think you overlooked the most important reason. No one keeps their monitors on anymore. Old monitors had to be manually switched off. Modern ones automatically shut off when your computer is inactive.

1:01 is that the polybius game? That is one rare burned in display.

I downloaded a pack of windows 98/XP screensavers for my windows 11 gaming PC and they all work perfectly. I’m currently using the Starfield one.

I had hoped it would also explain why they fell out of *fashion* for LCD's despite no longer being necessary. Maybe it's partly because the screen saver hasn't been a default in later editions of Windows.

I am using a 4K LG OLED TV as my my main computer monitor for years now. No burn in, due to 2 things I do with it: ▪︎ It always runs at highest efficiency setting > low brightness, but bright enough and more relaxing for the eyes ▪︎ I got pure black image files, which I show in full screen whenever I don't need the monitor for a little while. The TV stays completely on, but the actual display receives no wear due to no pixels illuminated.

I still use VGA CRTs and the ones from the mid 00s are my fav, for PC gaming and retro consoles (via Component to VGA upscaling through a GBS Control) Flat Glass especially looks amazing. I'll keep in mind I need a screensaver ;)

Wallpaper Engine also has this feature to apply screen saver with your favourate live wallpapers. I have applied it and it looks cool just sitting there, ideling in the background.

I wish there were remake of the old screensavers that ran flawlessly on the latest x64 Windows systems. Screensavers in the 95 era were just normal executables, with some additional programming that would allow you to configure them with the proper parameter. Why not running the old scr in a modern system? Its absolutely doable. The problem is that the old screensavers from that era cant work with more than one screen (for example) or have their resolution incredibly tiny, or are prepared only to work with 4:3 or 5:4 resolutions. And that's only talking about the screensavers that came with Windows 95 and Microsoft Plus!. I havent even mentioned AfterDark and how their flying toasters are still embedded in my memories.

I also remember being irritated immensely when people would refer to a desktop wallpaper as a screensaver. 😏

How much time was spent making those LTT Style screensavers?

The information presented is actually a really cool glimpse into computing/display history. The delivery, however, I find cringy. Case in point: 1:24, 0:58. Sorry for all the cringe I just caused by people clicking those times lmao.

This is a good explanation as to why we don't NEED screensavers anymore, but not why we actively got rid of them. Screensaver files are executable files, as in programs... and could easily become a vector for hacking, or virus infection. As a result they have been buried because they are a minor security risk, especially in large computer labs.

I've seen burnin on LCDs as well. I suspect one factor with screen savers is that most monitors and computers are designed to power down the screen on no activity, and a screen saver would stop that from happening, defeating the purpose of it.

Microsoft is missing out on not having the star field or pipes just as an option. There are still many of us in the world who used this feature regularly and would even pay to have it back.

But is there an advantage to screensaver vs screen turning off for OLEDs?

I remember getting that Matrix screen saver and thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

Well.. there is a bit of history missing here. In late 90-tys monitors that could turn of the canon but not the heater become more common. They could turn of the picture while still being on. Typically the monitor powered down in 3 steps. First the screensaver came one. Then really just like a warning of the monitor starting to power down. Then the electron canon turned of. That would turn on a gain pretty quickly, like in half a second or something. Then the heater would turn of, making the monitor technically being in a sort of standby mode. Its also worth saying that in the mid 90-tys speed heaters become thing. Normally the heater is at a nominal level, but with the speed haters they cranked up the heating power to the quadruple in about 5-10 seconds heating the screen up much faster.

My laptop has a 4k OLED screen and after watching this video I discovered that the taskbar has left a permanent mark at the bottom. Feels bad man...

I remember that feeling when I walked in the office one morning to see ten monitors with The Matrix console screen saver on...

Burn in on OLEDs is no joke. After a couple years of using my OLED Samsung phone daily, the 16:9 rectangle in the middle is noticeably and irrecuperably duller than the bits at the top and bottom. I really wouldn't want to use an OLED computer monitor considering how much more things are moving around on my phone compared to my PC when in use.

3:43 That pixel shifting or whatever they call it doesn't prevent burn in at all, it just blurs that outline of the text on the burned in ghost

Funny thing is I just downloaded the 3D Pipes screensaver onto my PC a few days ago. That one was always my favorite and I was feeling nostalgic so what the hell.

Did you guys purposely cause that Ocarina of Time burn in at 0:55?

Having a screensaver where you can play a game is one of the most awesome and at the same time most senseless things I've ever heard.

You missed the opportunity to make the DVD logo hit the corner

I know what happened to the 3D Pipes Screensaver! 😀😀 Microsoft finally found a good Plumber.... 😆😆 . . . I will let myself out 😒😒

I thought it was really cool to see a faint image of a screen I designed years earlier when I went to see a client. Video Archives and Lou's Records are good examples from the 1980's. No screen savers back then and it was a cash register with my enterprise software. But it did burn a faint image.

i have very fond memories of screensavers. As a kid (like what, 5 years old?) my dad made me a custom 3D screen saver with my name bouncing around like the DVD logo and it was very cute. Until i accidentally downloaded another screensaver that showed the earth rotating in space, displaying an hour and date that were never correct, and i was never able to change it back. Ah, good old times.

Burn in on flat screen monitors and televisions is a real thing. Happened to me because I thought burn in only happened on crts. It's best to set a screensaver or turn off the monitor.

I have the Minecraft screensaver that Microsoft released on April fools a couple years back. It's pretty cool!

Whenever I have to install a new computer, I always make sure to download XScreenSaver, a great collection of retro screensavers.

As a Mac user, I still use screensavers Not to save my screen, but to show some nice stuff, the time, and weather, when I’m doing something else and take a glance at my monitor

Burn-in is also a major issue on plasma screens

I have actually created my own screen saver. It’s a rick role, it goes off every 5 minutes. I also created one similar to the famous DVD screen saver but with Michael Rosen face.

I dont think I could *not* use a screen saver, its been engrained in me since the 90s.

Another reason why they've gone by the wayside is that LCDs don't have that long warmup delay. (Though some panels do still take a hot minute to realize you've given them a signal and to wake back up.) I personally think that the biggest reason is the move towards "high energy efficiency". Therefore monitor sleep has almost completely replaced the role that screen savers used to take. This was even in motion during the CRT years, with Windows 95 supporting the ability to put your monitor in sleep, and Win98 defaulting to a fairly aggressive profile for the function. In fact in the CRT's twilight years, I read an article advising people to disable their screen savers completely, because with the CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) backlights early LCDs depended on having a finite lifespan and burnout being an actual cause of needing to replace your monitor, physically turning off the backlight was better for the life of the display than keeping everything running but displaying a pretty animation.

Bring back Screensavers! I miss them a lot. Not those garbage photo rolls either. Also, I remember burn-in. It was pretty funny, but it usually went away after a little.

Faster boot times with SSDs also helped kill the screensaver. No longer do you have to wait minutes for your computer to boot up. So instead of leaving it on and letting the screensaver take over, a good amount of people just turn their computers off completely.

Where can I find the Linus Screensaver @1:26

For OLED displays, can the taskbar cause burn-in?

Ah, screensavers... back when computers were inherently fun, quirky and had a not-so-serious and novelty vibe to them (especially vintage Macs). On my first PC (1995) I had every After Dark Screensaver series available installed as well as 'Icon Hear iT!' (from MoonValley Software), which was a fun and sometimes wacky must-have add on for any early PC enthusiast. My first Mac (1997) had all of the AfterDark screensavers and games installed as well, and the OS had that unique Mac GUI style that was always so ahead of Windows, but in a more cartoonish playful way. Of course there was Microsoft Plus! and all the add ons, sound packs and so on. The customization options were endless in those days. 'Theming' was a very fun and popular chapter in both the vintage Mac and PC stories. I do miss the early internet when websites had a magazine-like layout, and operating systems and software had skeuomorphic GUIs showing real life tools, buttons and objects on screen, but in a 90's graphical aesthetic. This was refined a bit in the 2000s as graphics got better, with more life-like skeuomorphism, and this could have been refined and evolved into something tasteful and useful in present day, but no, for some reason, even though our everyday real world objects still exist, they are no longer represented on-screen. Instead, we have a sea of white, wasted space, little to no contrast or layers, hard to decipher icon glyphs, tiny navigation links/buttons, and webpages with gigantic fonts, white wasted space, heavy scrolling, templated and often incomplete designs, and of course, OS and software GUIs that lack any kind of fun, quirk, novelty or visual eye candy. Some fun stuff still exists, and there are still applications out there that don't look like variants of Explorer or Finder windows, but they are harder to come by and are often killed off as operating systems get more advanced and less backward compatible. I do hope we return to GUIs and software that incorporates design elements taken from objects and things that we use in real life as these things still exist. There has to be a happy medium and both worlds should be able to meet in the middle.

2:26 why you always lying

As a kid, screensaver was a entertainment 😁

Always preferred the "black screen" screen saver. Made much more sense if you actually wanted to save the screen. Still do with my OLED.

I use jwz's xscreensaver because it looks really good and is light on system resources

1:30 Bro I have that same CRT! And it makes the same high pitched noise lol

I'm watching on a CRT, and I use Electric Sheep as my screensaver. I'll upgrade to OLED when it gets smaller and cheaper, and then I'll still use my screensaver.

When I think about screensavers from the ‘90s, I think 2 words-After Dark… Talk about a crazy collection of screensavers and games…

I also miss the sounds old PCs used to make. Remembering how magical it was to accompany my mother when she bought our first real PC (we had a Commodore 64 and a Amiga 600 and 1200 before), a 486 with a "Turbo" button that allowed you to switch the frequency from 8 MHz to a whopping 66 MHz. Those things were loud, but not in an obnoxious way. It is hard to explain. It sounded kind of like a vacuum cleaner 2 rooms over, if you know what I mean and it made those softly clanking plotter noises occasionally. I also fondly remember that "new PC smell" and how the beige-grey colored metal housing looked before it got dusty and bleached by the sun. Even the show room of the PC shop was a bit of a magical place and buying the thing felt much like buying a brand new car.

Yes, good times. At the time of Windows 3.11 when we received the first 386 with a color screen, these 3D >D screensavers were a thing.

2:10 That's a plasma TV, not LCD. And modern OLED displays are not nearly as susceptible to burn in. The OLED Switch only got burn in after VERY EXTREME and unrealistic conditions where the same screen was displayed for MANY MONTHS non stop. And even then it's only really visible on flat images.

I worked for a company that did other things as well but we did utilize the screen saver. There was an admin panel and you can push screen savers out to end user pcs. we used it for 2 scenarios, there are more for sure. The 2 we used it for was; 1. An un obsrusive way to convey company goings ons. After returning to my desk i'd know whos birthday was coming up or when the next town hall was because it was on my screen saver. 2; we also used it as like digital signal, The screensaver could display websites so we had big tvs that cycled through internal websites like build failures vs success or monitor probe health statuses or unit test sucess etc. Another factor to consider for why screen savers went away is greenes. Companies can reduce emissions by conserving power by disabling screensavers. Similar to the claim to fame, "we are a paperless company" it's green to not have screen savers.

That stars galaxy one was my favorite. When I got too stressed out from homework or school, id wait for that screen saver to turn on and I'd just watch it for a few minutes and mentally reset.

I always wondered what happened 🤔 They were cool

Of course you can also put your OLED monitor into power saving mode after a while and... you know, save power 😄