What is Digg?89 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -22/+51Finally catching up with Windows 98!
- trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13You can already play screensavers as your desktop background with no additional software:
/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background & - Amidnightsunset, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I would like to have this do RSS feeds. It'd be nice to clear your desktop and see the top headlines.
- ploke, on 10/12/2007, -9/+22This is not the same thing as Dreamscene. Dreamscene, while it looks cool (in a useless eyecandy kind of way), is simply a movie playing in place of a picture. It uses up more power and ram than a picture. The apple idea is to generate the picture using a formula. It doesn't say that the picture will always be animated. It seems to say that the background will only animate at certain times. For example, your screen saver can morph into your static background rather than cutting to it. This solution takes up less ram. They are very different things.
- geoken, on 10/12/2007, -20/+32You mean sort of like what Vista does right now?
My brothers relatively low end computer (Athlon 3200, 1g ram, 6600gt) runs 720p content with zero impact on system performance. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19Windows 98 had active desktop... I can't believe it took Apple this long to catch up!
- halleyscomet, on 10/12/2007, -14/+25Damn it, Active Desktop is an abortion that needs to be killed. Why the HELL would Apple try to add comparable crap to their own system?
- mancat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14What was "done wrong" about MS' Active Dekstop? It did exactly what it was supposed to do. I used to have CNN as my desktop in the early days of Win98. It worked fine. Did it consume more resources than blank wallpaper? Yeah, duh.
- neuropsychguy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13I think more people need to read the article. Read AppleInsider's write-up and then read about DreamScene: completely different things. Apple is trying to make transitions more fluid: "This includes movement, for example, when logging in, logging out, and transitioning to and from a screen saver, providing a seamless experience. It can also include slow movement, such as seen when a soft tree shadow is cast, with the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, or slow movement over time, or concerted movement to mark the passing of time (e.g., a noticeable change to pattern or color every hour)" (from the article). You can do other things with the technology too but that's not how Apple's spinning it.
DreamScene is nice but it's more like a looping DVD menu whereas what Apple is doing goes way beyond that. - WinGeek, on 10/15/2008, -8/+16I guess they are running out of ideas to resort to stealing stuff from Windows 98... :(
- deadprez, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12What a waste of time and effort. /sigh
- modusop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I don't think it's an animated .gif or even a movie. This sounds a lot more like "generated" on the fly as in SVG or something that has to do with resolution independence. Sounds a lot like the winner of My Dream App, btw.
- Wang, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Wow....apple copying Microsoft! (Vista Ultimates dreamscene feature)
- uownedge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8That was my first thought, but this sounds more along the lines of what E17 does with animated backgrounds, which can be kind of cool, if done in such a way as to not slaughter system performance. My first thoughts were of Windows Active Desktop, which was and is a horrible idea.
- insomniac8400, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17Sweet, apple develops the obvious. I bet there will be some ***** patents to follow.
- listrophy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Let me translate what noonebutme said from fanboy to english:
It is entirely possible for Apple to "do (insert feature here) correctly" despite the concept being old. I, for one, am not holding my breath despite Apple's penchant for achieving said correctness on an old concept. - flag564, on 10/12/2007, -11/+16"Apple will do it right. "
I was wondering when that usual talking point would be trotted out when Apple is caught ripping off...um, copying someone else's stuff.
It's always funny how only Apple can copy and "do it right", while if anyone does that with something from Apple it is seen as wholesale theft and proof that that company cant do anything original. - MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Sigh.
Stardock's Deskscapes Extention for Dreamscene allows for dynamically generated content that has NO impact on performance.
They haven't released the SDK yet, but the dynamic dreams they have eat up NO system resources for me. Literally, I'm watching it right now, and thought it's rendering at 1920x1200, a nifty set of antialiases ovals rotating in 3dness with cool colors and antialiasing pumped up to max, 0-1% increased CPU usage. A few spikes to 2%, but that could just be explorer animating a tray icon or something. - Ramble, on 10/12/2007, -12/+17Are you stupid? Vista has had this for a while now, it's called DreamScene.
- MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"Stardock DeskScapes is an enhancement to Windows® DreamScene. Stardock DeskScapes extends Windows DreamScene to support dynamic, animated wallpaper as their desktop background without slowing down the computer or interfering with how you work with your computer.
DeskScapes also supports the new .Dream format. By default, Windows DreamScene supports MPEG and WMV videos as their content. The .Dream format supports adding triggers, author info, and dynamic content. Now users know if a given file has been designed to be an animated wallpaper -- if it uses the .Dream format, it's an animated wallpaper! "
http://www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes/
It's free, too. - MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"The BS meter just red-lined after reading that comment."
There are Dynamic Dreams that can generate 1920x1200 content on my pc with 0-1% increased CPU usage. ATM, Stardock hasn't released their uber-awesome SDK for this, but it's still possible. - uownedge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6There's also a nifty app called QuartzDesktop that allows you to use quartz compositions as your background. I don't really recommend doing that if you don't have a decent graphics card though. It sounds like Apple is developing a method of accomplishing a similar effect without the draw on resources.
- Nekko17, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7It would be nice for a background to change through-out the day. Just like it does on the Personal Google Homepage. Honestly why would anyone even think its a GIF? It just hurts me, deep inside... very deep. My lung.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Damn you, I clicked that thinking it was a screenshot or something. Looks like it's just an Affiliate type link.
- RDurfee, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8I think more people need to read up on DreamScene. Yes, the Microsoft package only comes with looping videos, but it actually does a whole lot more. Your description sounds exactly like what DreamScene is. Stardock has developed a bunch of dream files, like a rendered globe that rotates in real time. You can also center it on your timezone and the image changes with the time.
- Septimus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Meh.. the free DreamScene extension to DreamScape allows on the fly content generation also (i.e. not a video looping).
- directive0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I ran Xscreen for a while way back when X started. The novelty wore off quickly, I think I could live without this.
- GnKnight1, on 10/12/2007, -13/+17"My brothers relatively low end computer (Athlon 3200, 1g ram, 6600gt) runs 720p content with zero impact on system performance."
The BS meter just red-lined after reading that comment. - mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I like to use Quartz Desktop with the Spectrum screen saver. It uses barely any RAM and is somewhat relaxing.
- geoken, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8"The BS meter just red-lined after reading that comment."
Yet when Apple claims it will do the same you have no issue. Fanboyism at it's best. - tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think people are reading this wrong if they're comparing it to MS Active Desktop. Maybe they aren't reading it at all.
MS Active Desktop basically turned your desktop into a windowless application window (I remember it just display HTML content, but it may have done other things too). That's not what this Apple patent is describing. Apple's patent is describing a way of holding a desktop background as a formula, rather than as a graphic file. It goes to suggest that the desktop could therefore change when certain applications are opened. That doesn't sound anything like MS Active Desktop. They sound like distinct concepts to me.
Also, just because they've filed a patent DOES NOT mean they are developing it. The title of this digg is inaccurate. - strangewill, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10Oh I've always wanted to say this:
"OMG Apple is stealing Microsoft's ideas!!11oneeleven"
Can't wait for the Mactards to chime in why it's okay for Apple, but a crime if it's Microsoft. IMHO: A good feature, no matter who implements it first, should always be included if the request for the feature is high enough and it doesn't have a negative effect to the overall system. - irgeorge, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7this is a misleading title, sounds more like some form of generative or procedural technique. nothing like active desktop which was just embedded html.
- Seruphim, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6bout damn time Macs got cool and utterly useless stuff...oh wait...macsaber...
- Darcy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What a surprise, the story has descended into a good old Windows v Mac battle. Why does it always come down to who had what first or who implements it better? why does it matter?
All this bias and fanboyism is ruining digg (in fact it's ruining the entire WWW). Every story seems to turn into a school playground fight with everyone point scoring and belittling each other over things that really don't matter. I know these fights can sometimes be fun and that's probably why a lot of people come here, but do we really need to behave like petulant 13 year old kids? - r3zonance, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@flag564
"I was wondering when that usual talking point would be trotted out when Apple is caught ripping off...um, copying someone else's stuff.
It's always funny how only Apple can copy and "do it right", while if anyone does that with something from Apple it is seen as wholesale theft and proof that that company cant do anything original."
Not wanting to 'feed the troll', but, Apple have had what they are proposing available in some form for a couple of years now. And the "Active Desktop" reference is just lazy journalism. Apple is NOT giving the ability to display HTML pages as a background, which is all Active Desktop could do. Apple is basically doing what "Quartz Composer" on the Mac does, but for desktop backgrounds.
You can currently setup Quartz Composer items as a desktop background, I believe. Do a search of "Quartz Composer" flag, and you will see that apart from it being on the desktop, it has no similarities whatsoever with Active Desktop. - tomis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5There are already several programs for MacOS X that do things like this, a couple of them even change the picture with the time of day.
It's just a matter of creating a full-screen window and setting it's layer level to be below the desktop icons. Big deal. - SlpingInsomniac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Open terminal, type:
screen -d -m /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background
to stop:
killall ScreenSaverEngine - dh8r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It sounds like this feature would be really useful for the Atmosphere team.
- stevealford, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3 I am going to visit Steve Jobs and pitch a new product to him. I want to use the Apple logo to bring back the pet rock. The logo will have leopard details below it and will ship with each new Leopard system for an extra $19.99. As part of the iRock upgrade, I might throw in a few iTunes downloads as a play on words.
Before you mod me down, consider this: how many of you bought an iPod case from Apple that costs at least three times what a plain one without the Apple logo costs? When you're spending $3000 on a new computer, you'd gladly pay 20 more bucks for a cute novelty like the iRock that you can proudly set atop your tower or monitor. It would be an excellent conversation piece or just something cute to amuse you while you're booting up or waiting for something to load. - insomniac8400, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I know other people are using it, that is why it is obvious. It's out there. It is nothing new. But Apple now feels they somehow invented it.
- WinGeek, on 10/15/2008, -1/+3I agree. I used Dreamscene in Vista for about a day before disabling it.
- moisie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I would point out that we have no idea what they're actually going to do with this and how they're going to utilise it within OS X - if they even end up using it. So comparing it with Active desktop is both simplistic and unfounded.
- r3zonance, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Maybe, but it will be/is without the Vista Ultimate price tag.
- jackmaninov, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The story was about a patent application, yes?
- r3zonance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Doesn't Vista have this? I know you could always make a gif into a background in XP at least, even though it runs terribly slow."
I'm unsure of the exact ins and outs of the Vista thingy.
What Apple is proposing is a procedural/pipeline of instructions to build up a scene that is rendered by the GPU and uses hardly any VRAM. If you want an example of the sort of thing they are on about just search for QuartzComposer. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2More hypocrisy from Apple, then. They're all worried about the resources that a screen saver is going to take up, and yet apps don't quit when you close them. And you can't select and install specific printer drivers from the Mac OS disc; instead you have to install hundreds of megabytes of unnecessary ones. Not to mention the ***** of memory that desktop widgets take up. And the gigabytes of duplicate material installed with iLife. Or iTunes's default of inexplicably copying your entire collection of music. Or the way SoundTrack's samples and loops INSIST on going to the boot partition.
Whatever. - r3zonance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@MioTheGreat
"It's free, too."
Yeah, but Vista Ultimate, which is required, isn't free is it. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5you mean Vista hasnt been released yet??? wow!
- deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I probably won't use it but more power to em. I'm sure there's some folks out there who would like it.
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