Poll: do you use a screensaver?

[Holmes]

Was thinking about writing a short graphics demo and turning it into a screensaver. But then I thought, does anyone use screensavers anymore? And is it moral to write one? I mean, screensavers aren't strictly necessary anymore, and seeing as how graphics intensive some are, they waste lots of power when (theoretically) no one is even watching them. Your thoughts?

[ia3n_g]

Screensavers are good for locking the screen quickly with hot corners when someone who wants to spy on your e-mail is hanging around waiting to sneak a peek the next time you leave the room.

[igame3d]

We have a screen saver module too, but I never use them.
Apparently people do use them...I just don't know who they are.

[JustinFic]

Eh- I use one of the screensavers that came with my Mac. Never really thought about them one way or the other, just one of those set-it-and-forget-it things.

But remake Lunatic Fringe and I will buy two copies and love you forever.

[funkboy]

I would rather save power that would go to the processor and power that would go to run my LCD. Also, an LCD gets closer to the end of its life the more hours it's run, so I like giving it a rest, too - plus it saves a lot of power there, too!

[Josh]

I use one, especially when I'm at school and living in a dorm. It's a quick way to lock the screen (and people are impressed by the RSS feed one).

[Joseph Duchesne]

I have made a few and have some really cool looking (battery sucking) ones, but alas, I just turn my powerbook's screen turn off (brightness to zero). I can't sleep with light from a screen on. Or sound. Thank God for the silence of my PowerBook. When I buy my Mac Pro, I think I'll keep it in another room. Possibly soundproofed ;)

[OneSadCookie]

The G5s were not noisy, and the Mac Pros are likely to be cooler... I can't imagine they'll be any noisier!

[kelvin]

The G5s were not noisy, and the Mac Pros are likely to be cooler... I can't imagine they'll be any noisier!
Perhaps he meant the two 7800GTXs venting out the back.

[OneSadCookie]

7800 GTXs aren't too noisy... they're a lot cooler than 6800 Ultras, anyway :)

Anyway, if Apple doesn't offer an ATI graphics option in the Mac Pro (as they haven't with the PCIe G5s), I'll be severely disappointed.. again :(

[aarku]

Anyway, if Apple doesn't offer an ATI graphics option in the Mac Pro (as they haven't with the PCIe G5s), I'll be severely disappointed.. again :(
Nah, the Mac Pro will ship with the GMA 950... really :ninja:

[kelvin]

I wonder if anyone will offer (http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~110899,00.html) an ATi graphics option in the near future...

[OneSadCookie]

I imagine they'll keep the ATI brand... it's too strong to throw it away casually.

I wonder whether Intel will start developing their own high-end graphics cards to compete... in some sense, nothing has changed, but in others, every step AMD takes toward profitibility is a bad one for Intel :)

I also wonder what this'll mean about things like Intel supporting Crossfire on their motherboards, and ATI supporting Intel chips on theirs...

[PowerMacX]

(Back to screensavers topic) Right now I have the basic "Computer Name" screensaver set to start when I move my mouse to the top-right corner, to dim the screen quickly when I leave the machine for a few minutes, but on my desktop Mac I always liked SolarWinds (http://s.sudre.free.fr/Software/Solarwinds.html) (similar in style to Flurry).

edit: ignore the screenshot in the linked page, it looks a lot better than that!

[Bachus]

Yup, I use 'em.

http://www.killerrobots.com/screensavers/

</shameless plug>

[skyhawk]

I use a screensaver at night and also when I wish to lockdown my computer. My only requirements in a screensaver is that it doesn't have a lot of white/bright colors in it as I mostly use it at night.