Screen Saver Maker

Screen savers have been around since the first Windows operating system or even longer. Initially, they were designed to reduce the wearing of CRT monitors, caused by phosphor burn-in, when they were turned on, but not used. Although LCD monitors, which do not have this problem, are replacing CRT ones rapidly, screen savers are still popular, because they are a form of entertainment. If you want to create your own screen savers, you can do it with Screen Saver Maker. This simple application features a set of straightforward tools, which allow you to build a screensaver fast and easy.

A 1.54 MB setup file is all you need to download before installing the application. The setup wizard will present only essential configurations, like selecting a destination folder and creating a Start menu folder and shortcuts. Screen Saver Maker is compatible with all Windows editions, from Win 98 to Win 7 and its system requirements are very modest. In other words, you can use it on mostly any computer, regardless of hardware or Windows version.

Depending on what type of media you want to add to your screen saver, you will work in different sections of the interface. Screen Saver Maker lets you insert text and banners, pictures, music, videos and Flash animations. There is another section available, where you can type general information about the screen saver, like its name, the author's name or a short description and select an exit condition, such as mouse movements, keystrokes and so on. You may go through each section in order, by clicking Next and Previous buttons, so the application will feel like a wizard. Alternatively, you may switch between sections by clicking the navigation buttons, located on the left side of the interface, if you want to insert only a specific type of media.

Inserting media files is not all you can do. Each section includes various configuration options, for setting up delays and duration, shuffling items, selecting different positions and more. The application comes with built in audio and video players, so you can view a video or listen to an audio track when you load them. You will also be pleased to know that Screen Saver Make supports various media formats. When it comes to images, you can select files in JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF or TGA format. Audio files can be loaded if they are in MP3, WAV or MIDI format and you can add videos in AVI and MPEG formats.