My Living Desktop5.3.1

It was a great app. It's now abandonware. No response from develoeper's website contact form.

does not allow full uninstall

I'm so pissed off. I bought this app along with many ScenePak and none of them is available anymore. When I try to install them with the zip while, and double click on ScenePalk icon I get an error saying impossible to open the content. Plus It seems this app is discontinued so I can't even get in touch with the staff... anyone can help me to retrieve my purchased ScenePak ? Thanks!

Wow! It's fantastic! This app breaths new life into my mac. Very uncommon desktop effect. Moreover you can adjust the pictures to your everyday mood and see them changing time at a time. By the way, if you need your children to be engaged in something for some time sitting quietly - Living desktop is the right thing. A little expensive but it's working perfectly.

Glitchy software This software needs work. It keeps reinstalling itself as a Login Item even after being removed repeatedly. There is no “deactivate” or "preferences" option in the menu bar. You have to find your way via “Scenes and Settings” and then click on the small unlabeled wheel icon- and still no general option to deactivate the program entirely, only for specific apps. It slows processing speed noticeably as it turns on, and keeps popping up on it’s own despite system screen saver preference settings. Also, two weeks after downloading all available scenes, the bottom screen still reads “screen download in progress.”

The Dev is very responsive via their Support eMail form. #respect

I needed to reinstall on my new Mac, and literally within 2 hours I had heard back from them with my registration code, along with new links to download my ScenePaks... the ones I had purchased in early 2012! Best customer service ever.

Needed assistance with an upgrade application. FAST response and great support to see this product installed and working correctly. Sets the marker for what customer service should be.

Terrible app. The videos are low-quality, it crashes a lot and i have problems every update.

This is a wonderful application. The scenes are relaxing and very serene. I like the sounds and moving images, it is like through a window. Excellent product.

Videos are not in HD. Crashes sometimes and updates do not work

I love the scenes and sounds. I change them frequently and enjoy going to sleep to the crickets and waking up to the birds. My Living Desktop has brought extra beauty into my world. Thanks!

Great Support You always hope you don't need support but something went wrong during my install on my Mountain Lion Mac. These guys responded very quickly and numerous times until we resolved the issue (even though it was the weekend). I wish more developers were like this. The app is great too BTW.

Something is off with the way you set loops in videos that you import, the setting time is never right.

This'd be cool but a bit of a resource hog. I'm not too big on the interface either which is pretty janky. I was having a little trouble figuring otu how to get it to stay on one background rather than rotating to all the different backgrounds, seems like I had to do everything twice before it accepted that setting. Hmmmm. I'd be cool with my living desktop at some point but for now it still needs work.

Not really all that useful.

I've been using My Living Desktop for over 2 years now. It's been running it on my 27" iMac 2.8GHz i7 with no problems at all. I can't think of one time that it ever slowed down my computer or crashed on me.The scenes are beautiful and plentiful. Whenever anyone sees my desktop it's always brings great comments(usually, what's it called and were can I get it. lol). My questions to support have been answered the same day and they update regularly. I'll never go back to static photo's. Bob

Great product - we used to live near the sea & I miss it so much - My Living Desktop has added a new dimension to my superb iMac (I dumped Windows & PCs 6 months ago..!) Can recommend this software.

just upgraded from a previous version and now it tells me I can't use it as a screensaver in my version of the OS... apparently that's a bug but following the instructions on the website fixed it but when I hit test the screensaver came up and now I can't get it to go away! also, it told me I need to register but gives me no way to do it... tech support is about useless in this as it suggests an issue I did not have, and a fix for that issue, and then says to "Then just register your My Living Desktop as usual"... that's great... or it would be if I had any idea how it is normally registered... as if that wasn't enough it keeps telling my I can upgrade, yet when I click for more info it takes me to a site that wants to sell me the same version I just installed!

My Living Desktop makes my work computer so much less of a prison for me. It's subtle, but it really makes a difference. Even when I can't see it the background audio helps. The stock videos included have been fine for me, so I haven't checked out the store, but I like knowing I can get more if I want. It has a demo, so give it a try! (fun thing you can do: My favorite movie is James Cameron's Aliens - So i cut out the scenes where they show the video feeds from the soldiers' cameras and stitched them together in a loop, so my desktop looks like a camera feed from the movie)

Great idea, lackluster execution. It would be great if there were high-res versions of the desktops for newer, high-end macs. These would probably look great on a 13-inch screen, but on a 17 inch display, every scene looks pixelated or blurry. Luckily, I got it in the bundle.

I'm stoked to use this! I love all of the reviews, and most of all, I can't believe how responsive the developer is!

Great and easy to use software. Very friendly, fast and competent support - Hi Kevin :-)

works great, but could use some new scenes.

Wonderfull pictures! Makes my work on my Mac more enjoyable. Mostly recommended for writers and journalists, that always searching for inspiration. Relaxing!

This software has been nicely improving, and I would not want to be without it. Great images, both on my MacBook Pro and an external monitor, with different scenes! The developer promptly responds to questions and issues, and keeps on making this better. A very cool addition to your Mac!

Very impressed. Doesn't use a lot of resources and it's really eye catching. Lots of settings to tweak the program for your personal flavor ! Great !

My living desktop is a great program that you can enjoy excellent scenes and I found a very professional support

This is a lovely product and makes the mundane turn into an interesting talking point amongst friends and colleagues as they notice a 'moving' desktop. Especially as you're now able to use your own home movies in the application. There are some really good quality movies in the package to match any mood and many more to choose from in the in-built serene scene store. One of the best aspects of this software is being able to set 'serenity breaks'. These are great reminders to take a few minutes break and are essential for a healty you. It's important to give eyes and body a stretch and quick rest, and if you're concentrating on work, it's so easy to forget to do that. I reccomend this software as essential!

I have been a long time use of MLD and it has been a real relaxing and enjoyable app that just runs quietly in the background and offers a moment of quiet reflection depending on the mood you are in. The recent upgrades have been awesome and it has been a labour of love from Kevin the developer. I have been a beta tester and if you EVER have issues in the tech realm he is quick to solve it or help you. Really great app for the money and you won't be disappointed.

You have a very satisfied customer, trust me. Not just for the great application, but your customer service is, and has been for every time I've needed it (and I've needed it several times over the years), just awesome! Almost immediate, and personal, responses. You just can hardly find that with internet stores.Thanks, again, for the help. Have a great Christmas!

Just upgraded to version 5 and I must say that My Living Desktop keeps getting better all the time. I love the new features especially the integration with Mac Lion and the ability to view all my scene paks in a Launchpad-like view. I've been a longtime user of the app and I would definitely highly recommend it. I didn't mind making another investment in the app so soon because I want the developers to continue improving it in the future. Keep it up!

One of the great features of My Living Desktop is its ability to import one's own movies. Mine can't match the gorgeous, restful videos that come with the program, but they are satisfying to add to the mix. I don't regard My Living Desktop as an 'enhancing' the Macintosh experience so much as an indispensable part of it! There are so many great features: for instance, it disables itself when a computer is running on batteries -- and begins again when it is reconnected to a power source. And if you tend to have a cluttered desktop, MLD will hide and reveal icons as you wish. Version 5 is a real treat to use with Lion. Do yourself a favor and buy it! You will also get great support as part of the bargain.

Great app, have used it for years. Had problems after updating to Lion. Here is the fix: De-install Flip4Mac and download the latest version (Demo) and install overtop, no need to remove previous version. You will not loose your registration. Works great.

it's beautiful

This is a wonderful App!!! I think it's the finest Screen Saver I have ever seen or used. It's user friendly and has some absolutely beautiful photos to choose from. Their Tech Support answered my eMails within hours...(and I've only had two). I absolutely LOVE this program and would highly recommend it!

This is the only app like this for the Mac and it's absolutely a conversation starter when people see it! I've had great compliments about it and I have received excellent support for the few problems that I've had. Keep up the great work!

I discovered that My Living Desktop conflicts with Change Desktop causing the animated desktop not to appear until you quit Change Desktop.

My rising sun icon no longer accepted clicks. I updated to 10.6.5 this morning. I turned off Living Desktop 4.8.1 via System Preferences: Desktop & Screensaver - by selecting another screensaver (I never had the living desktop background option turned on - just used it for animated screensaver). I have since turned off the rising sun icon in System preferences and when I turned it back on, the menu icon accepts clicks now. Waiting for next update for Living Desktop.

I spend many hours before my laptop on writing projects/research/lesson plans, etc. This program well, ROCKS! I know that is not the most articulate way to describe it, but you get the point :) I mean the moving desktop technology and the relaxing images and accompanying audio will enhance anyone's work day. The program can be tailored to suit your preferences and works great on my MacBook Pro. I heartily recommend it, you won't be sorry and there is a MBG, so no worries. A. Cohen

I have waited a long time for a program like this... The possibilities for a creative and dynamic desktop are endless... I have an animated control panel for a desktop instead of a static image... The scenery is fine, but creating a new look, feel, and action to the desktop is just awesome... My desktop resembles something out of the movies... add geek tool and you can put videos inside of images to frame them and give your UI design something cool to visualize... works even while screen sharing macs running my living desktop on both. Amazing program... Thanks...

I downloaded the free trial of My Living Desktop and was hooked immediately. It gave me 10 days of using all 26 scenes and trying out the features that are included. I hadn't purchased a Screen Saver in so many years (and those in PC days), I was reluctant at first ... until I realized at the end of the free trial I wouldn't be able to enjoy it anymore. And the program has not given me any technical problems, no matter what I'm running at the moment. I purchased it and explored some features, including the rating and wasn't sure how to do that so emailed Amuse. They were amazing in how quick they responded and took a couple emails for me to get it but they were patient ... and so quick to respond, as I said. 5 stars for a wonderful product -- I've already purchased an additional scene from the 'store' and every scene is meticulous and gorgeous and you feel like you're right there. Love it on my on-all-day 24" display Mac. Can't wait to see what scene comes up next! Highly recommend this company and product!

I've been using My Living Desktop for several months now and have grown to love it. The scenes are beautiful and the accompanying sounds are very relaxing. I have a dual monitor setup and keep the scene on the "other" monitor so it's less likely to be covered by a bunch of windows. But even if a scene is partially covered, I can still hear the sounds of running water, whispering wind, etc. The new "Scene Store" is very nice. I've picked up a few more "ScenePaks" from there. I really like the Pak based on an artist's rendering of views of Mt. Fuji. The animations and traditional music that plays with it are just beautiful!

This has to be one of the coolest apps on the mac. I have it on a macbook and use it with a big screen at home. When I leave my computer and it comes on, anyone walking by makes a positive comment about it. Everyone asks about it and says they wished they had something like that on their computer. Some people I know bought a mac after seeing this app!!! They said it was the final straw that made them go over to the mac. The pictures are really great and the sounds are very relaxing. You won't be disappointed and the folks mylivingdesktop are very responsive to requests. I can't wait for one to come out on the ipad. This is a must have if you have a mac!

I've had My Living Desktop running on my office computer for a week now and can feel the calming difference in my temperament throughout the day. One of the features I love is My Living Desktop's ability to automatically stop when a CPU intensive program opens like Photoshop. That makes it seamless for me and adds to the worry free feel of the program. My Living Desktop puts you outside your office while you work, with sights and sounds that take off that edge of distraction around you and allow you to focus without realizing your doing it. I bought the family pack and my children use it to study by. It seems to give them that constant background that doesn't interrupt their concentration like music or TV can at times. This program and site are run by a really nice guy too, Kevin. Help me out with answers and support before and after I ordered the program. I'm sure thats part of what made this program so enjoyable. This is a must have program.

This program, despite what the developers says, uses a nice chunk of computer resources. The most notable is that the battery charge is shortened by more than 2/3's when this program runs. Also there are problems getting the program to respond consistently to the general preferences. Also, I have the beef that immediately after purchasing the developing immediately tries to sell you on the "updated version" implying that the original purchase was for an old version. Stinks of greed.

Absolutely incredible! And I'm not just saying that... You have to see it to believe it. I downloaded and tested My Living Desktop and within 10 minutes purchased it. I don't think I've ever done that with any other program and I've owned Macs for over 10+ years. I cannot believe Apple themselves has not done such an amazing job at implementing a moving wallpaper desktop. It seems like the next obvious direction for the Mac desktop. The scenes in My Living Desktop are first rate high quality complete with sound effects. It comes with something like 45 scenes and you can even import your own scenes - way worth the money. The scenes play on the desktop while you are working AND as a screen saver. There are all kinds of features built into it as well. The scenes are shot from all over the world - nature scenes, animals, sky scenes, the plant kingdom, even a ferris wheel and sail boat! Some just have to be experienced. They are great to have gently running on your computer while you are working, surfing the web, checking email, designing graphics or whatever. I had an installation problem and the developer immediately (within 5 minutes!) got back to me and resolve my issue. First rate technical support! And the problem was with my Mac anyway... High quality. Fast technical support. Courteous developer. And a TON of scenes. One of the best programs I now own on my Mac.

I have been using this software since it was Serene Saver and I can tell you its solid. Not only that, the developer has been VERY RESPONSIVE. Every problem or request I've made has been addressed in a reasonable time frame and in a professional manner. I struggled with the price - and cpu cycles - but even those are poor reasons for a poor review. Either you're willing to pay for what you get or you get what paid for. I write code all day and can appreciate the amount of work that has been done by these guys. I know they frequent these pages and if someone hasn't pointed out a bug and it gets posted here, it gets addressed quickly. I sit surrounded by monitors all running this program and when people step into my office they are stunned! The expressions on their faces is worth the $35 alone. The peaceful tranquility it provides in contrast to vector graphics bouncing chaotically around the screen is a welcome bonus. Oh, and those dollars and cpu cycles... I wasn't using them anyway.

Cool idea but I dumped it after 5 minutes. With a program of this nature I need some time to evaluate its stability and decide if I really want to spend so much money on it. Having 25% of my display proclaiming that this is a demo isn't something I want to look at while I'l deciding. When the developer comes up with a scheme that lets me take a real 10 day test drive I'll be back. Until then, into the trash it goes.

Easily the best desktop utility/screensaver/etc. ever made. Works perfectly on 10.6.2 . Job well done, Kevin.

purchased and installed My Living Desktop (then called Serene Screensaver) the first day I bought my iMac (November 2007, I believe). It is absolutely the best "Desktop" I have ever seen or used, Apple, or otherwise. In fact, when I upgraded to Snow Leopard, the first software I purchased was the upgrade to My Living Desktop. It is even better than my previous version! More scenes, more sounds and upgraded features. The folks at mylivingdesktop.com provided excellent customer service, as well (something you very often don't get with most software vendors). I would definitely recommend anyone with a Mac purchase this application! I promise, you will not be disappointed. I am certainly not. Thanks!

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.

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.

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).

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

Is there any plans for 1080p savers?

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,

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.

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

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:

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.

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 :(

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.

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

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.

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.

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.