ALIENDUDE  Time for new scenes  
(Version 4.03)

MC_SHIZZEL  Things I like:

- Easy way of having a dynamic desktop.

- Ability to import your own scenes.

- The Serenity Breaks feature (although I don’t use it but a nice feature to have).

- Option of having sound for the scenes on or off.

- Can also be used as the screen saver.

- Reasonable system resource footprint although I would recommend at least a Intel Core 2 Duo.

The things I don't like:

- The videos don't look all that sharp.

- There should be a MUCH better way to download additional scenes as of now you can’t preview nor can you choose which scenes you would like to download and there is no download progress indicator telling you how much of a specific scene you downloaded or how the file size of that scene so your left with either downloading them all or none without knowing how much time is left in the download and how much there is/was downloaded.

- The awkward location of the options menu inside the Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane, I would much rather it have its own preference pane under the “Other” category.

- It tends to be a buggy and a side note it doesn’t seem to allow GeekTool to run properly.

One last thing I've used this software since it was called Serene Saver, I was disappointed that the developer never sent any e-mail to inform me the software had changed names I just thought that the software had stopped being updated. This may have been an isolated incident but nevertheless there should be better communication between developer and end-user.  
(Version 4.0)

JOHNBOLS  Guys,

I have this and it is GREAT and the service you get is even better, I installed my Imac again on a sunday but forgot to write down the serial. The same day I got my serial from the owner.

I'm very happy!

Only dont use movies that moves a lot, it will make you dizzy.  
(Version 4.0)

PURSUITOFEXCELLENCE  This is an excellent idea for a utility. I immediately started thinking of all the videos that I might put on the desktop. Unfortunately, the video quality of the sample videos leaves much to be desired on a 1900x1200 monitor, a size that is becoming increasingly common. The term "HD" used with this utility is an exaggeration; that might be true justified for a small monitor, but the video flaws are quite apparent on a large monitor. Before I would but this utility, I would want to know exactly what video resolutions are supported and the resolution of the 40 downloadable scenes. Once it supports 1080p resolution, I have no doubt that My Living Desktop will be a big hit (and will also motivate people to buy high def video cameras).  
(Version 4.0)

SHOTGUNWEDDINGS  I love this set of looped screen savers, they are not only the highest quality ones made by anyone to date and the user support is also great.

I don't mind the price tag too much, a little pricey, but then you always have to pay a little more when it comes to better quality.

As for the complainers below, get a job or pay for it you bums LOL  
(Version 4.0)

SILVERITY  Is there any plans for 1080p savers?  
(Version 3.1.2)

KEVYK  Actually all the scenes that are downloaded are demoable. There are 4 of them in all in the demo and 40 of them in all in a purchased product. You can choose which scene to evaluate right from within Serene Saver Pro's System Preferences under its Scenes tab, or if you choose you can just do nothing and Serene Saver Pro will automatically and randomly choose a scene for you to view every 1/2 hour. You can also program this interval anywhere from 5 minutes to once a day.

I hope that helps,  
(Version 3.1.2)

ADONSA  First impression (of the demo).

The demo is NOT fully functional during the 10 day "trial" limit. It seems to download other scenes, however the screensaver defaults back to the sunset ocean scene even though other scenes are selected. Therefore eval of other scenes is impossible. The crippleware demo also displays an obnoxious narrative at the bottom of the screen when the screensaver is invoked.

Developers need to get a clue and realize that obnoxious crippleware is not the way to sell a product. The 10 day limit should suffice, but "ohhh noooo" they just gotta cripple it to make it look sick.

No demo is better than a crippled demo. It's better to make a quicktime movie of how the real thing runs, then make the beta testers ensure that there are no compatibility issues.

If you want to sell a product, then you need to present it to would-be buyers favorably, and crippling with obnoxious messages is counterproductive. Pricing. %50-$70 for a screensaver? Wouldn't more people buy it if it were competitively priced? Even the MacZot discount seems high for a screensaver. Oh well, what you charge is your call.   
(Version 3.1.1)

KEVYK  We've fixed the uninstaller. A single click is all that is needed to remove Serene Saver Pro now.  
(Version 3.1.1)

SMTIPS  And then on unistall it does the below in a terminal window? What Mac application kicks up a terminal window when you uninstall it?? That's just kind of lame, you need a better way...Why do I have to give my password to uninstall? I know what I want on my Mac when I'm logged in as the Admin. If it were a limited user account that was trying to uninstall then I could see it...but it's not.

Serene Saver 2 HD Uninstall

---------------------------

Please authenticate this uninstall by typing your administrator password.

This is the password you created when you initially set up your Macintosh.

You will not see it being typed and it is used ONLY to uninstall

Serene Saver 2 HD. To cancel, just close this window.

Password:  
(Version 3.0.5)

SMTIPS  Looks great. Checking out the trial now.

Couple things:

The Lushness Trail trial scene does not work at all on the desktop.Even when I have it selected as the only one, one of the others appears for the desktop.

After popping up a reminder notice within 10 minutes of installing the trial that Serene saver has GONE PRO, and kicking the movie out of full screen that I was watching, the sound started working on them. It hadn't before that.

Now after turning the sound off in all 4 trial scenes, the sound won't go away. I will have to uninstall it to get it to quit playing the sound.

If this is any indication of how it behaves in the full paid version I won't even consider buying it. Because it seems BUGGY with the trial. A trial should work JUST LIKE the paid version does. And it should kick a movie out of full screen with a reminder notice. I read that it was a 10 day trial when I installed it...I don't WANT any frigging popups interfering with me til my 10 days is up.

So I'm unimpressed with the behavior of it, but very impressed with the scenery and the sounds. That is, if it's possible to STOP the sounds and it doesn't seem like it is once they are selected.  
(Version 3.0.5)

SHOTGUNWEDDINGS  I don't what rock buddy crawled out from under to claim there is a FREE alternative to this, there are none, I checked all the freebies out.

This is the only one that offers such high quality audio and visual looped screensavers.

I was hooked the first time I tried the older version and this just gets better each major version jump.

If you think the price is too much then collect some more cans and bottles kiddies, its worth supporting a good developer.

And yes I do agree with one post below, an updater would be nice instead of the massive download each time an update is out :(  
(Version 3.0.5)

ALIENDUDE  Kinda expensive. Their site doesn't mention anything about an upgrade price for registered users.   
(Version 3.0.4)

ALEX B  As a registered user, I HATE the fact that this only comes in installer form, forces you to restart after installation, and ONLY install to the system library folder and refuses to run or even install in the user library folder.

It's stupid programming.  
(Version 2.2.2)

MICHAEL LEWIS  I'm a former Systems Engineer for a major computer company and I've seen a lot of screensavers etc. this app by far beats all of them and when I see its to pricey yea if you like cubes spinning or fish when this puts HD photos on your desktop with realistic sound to go with each on and the BIG THING is you get FREE downloads of other displays, want a cheap screen saver get the free ones, want a top of the line High Def then pay for this one it is worth it calms you makes you think and work easier, try it out for free and you'll be hooked!

Feel free to contact me

macman60@gmail.com

Thanks, Michael  
(Version 2.0.5)

808ARMADA  Try Wallsaver. It's free. just run the app during your login and run in background. This prog is a little bit too pricey for everything else that is free out there on the internet.  
(Version 2.0.4)

JTHEISS  Just bought it. Videos are absolutely gorgeous loops. Nice to be able to have this playing on just my second screen while I work on my main.

Slightly pricey, but oh so beautiful and relaxing.

I *would* like an option of using a custom image for the non-animated screen instead of an animation still, but that's a minor quibble.  
(Version 2.0.4)

CYANN  I apologize to the author of Serene Saver, my problem with my System Preferences didn't come from his screensaver. I'm glad because it's a nice screensaver.  
(Version 2.0.4)

CYANN  Since I've downloaded and installed Serene Saver 2.0.3, I can't no more open my Desktop in Preferences System.

Sometimes it open, but it's a blank window.

I've tried to clean with Onyx but nothing change.  
(Version 2.0.3)

VEGGIEDUDE  You can display your current screen saver onto your desktop by typing in this line into Terminal:

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background

Now, I wonder if paying $30 for a program that does essentially the same thing is worth it? Or am I missing something?  
(Version 2.0.3)

NATUREWALKER  I have been waiting for something like this for sometime!!! There are beautifully animated desktop scenes. I just knew somebody clever in the creative Mac community would figure it out. I love it because it's gorgeous, artistic and perfect for what I do on my Mac. It makes me feel so serene.

I HIGHLY recommend it.

Thank you Serene Saver.  
(Version 1.3)

MIKE  This thing is WAY cool. It animates my desktop with outdoor movies. I've never seen this done before on a Mac. Very serene too!  
(Version 1.2)

STEVE LABRIE  I have been using Serene Saver for a month now and LOVE it. It is one of the coolest applications I've seen on the Mac because it lets me see beautiful nature scenes on my desktop. The variety of the scenes are amazing too.  
(Version 1.2)

ANONYMOUS  On a 20" iMac the scenes look awefully compressed and pixelated...not very beautiful. Still, this is a neat idea and higher-resolution scenes could be developed in the future.  
(Version 1.1)