Friday, July 29, 2011

Ways to Enjoy Screen Savers on a Mac


Updated for Snow Leopard
Usually people only use screen savers when a computer is idle, but some screen savers are so enjoyable that they can provide visual relief from work sessions. In this list, I briefly describe some ways to enjoy screen savers.

Use Apple's Screen Savers

Apple provides some beautiful screen savers with Mac OS X. To view them, open System Preferences, click on theDesktop and Screen Saver button and select the Screen Saver tab. On the left side is a list of all the screen savers on your computer. My favorite Apple screen saver is Beach.
Beach screen saver from Apple

Use an iPhoto Album

Viewing photos of your children or special pet can be the perfect way to ease work-related stress. Just select the iPhoto album in the list on the Screen Savers preferences pane and let your little one relax you.
iPhoto screen saver

3.  Change View Options

Mac OS X has some new display options for some of the screen savers. If you see three small symbols under the screen saver preview with the words "Display Style" under the symbols, you can choose how to view your screen saver. Your options are: 


Regular view (symbol on the left) - The screen saver will move slowly around the desktop, completely covering it with one image.
Screen saver in Mac OS X - regular display
Collage view (symbol in the center) - Sections of the screen saver image will appear on the screen at different angles, and each new image will be placed on top of the previous ones.
Screen saver in Mac OS X - collage display
Mosaic view (symbol on the right) - Small sections of different images from the screen savers or from images in your folders will be combined to form a mosaic image.
Screen saver in Mac OS X - mosaic display

Change Display Options

You can set display options for many screen savers. First, select the screen saver you want from the list of screen savers in the Screen Savers preferences pane. Next, click the Options... button. A pane will open and you will have several options that will vary depending on the screen saver.
Display options for screen savers in Mac OS X

Find Free Screen Savers

There are some entertaining free screen savers that you can download and add to the Screen Savers folder in your Users folder. To find more screen savers, go to MacUpdateand search for "Screen Savers."

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