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This powerful wallpaper changer should satisfy the most demanding desktop decorators. The rather unassuming interface belies a bevy of options that give users the utmost in wallpaper control.
Automatic Wallpaper Changer's interface is not much to look at. Extreme novices (say, your great-grandmother) may not find it immediately evident how the program works, but helpful tool tips pop up when users hover over the screen elements. To most users it should be fairly obvious that on the first screen you can select a directory of photos, adjust the speed of the image change, and set the position of the photo on the desktop. For some this might be enough, but what really makes this program worth paying for are the features revealed in the Preferences menu. In addition to the sorts of options you'd expect, such as stretching and tiling, the Preference screen offers a multitude of other customizations. Some of the stand-outs include the capability to set a separate background image against which the wallpaper images appear, control over the images' opacity, a colorization feature, and a handful of special effects. Users have a tremendous amount of control over which images are displayed, including the capability to filter by date, size, and filename.
The only aspect of the program worth criticizing was a small but annoying lag when applying changes. The program otherwise runs smoothly and inconspicuously, and installs and uninstalls with no problems. Users should note that the trial version lasts 28 days; with so many options to play with, you may find that's not nearly long enough.
Publisher's Description
From Steve Murphy:
AWC is designed to be a one stop shop for displaying images on your desktop wallpaper.You can simply display you photos on your Desktop or create spectacular wallpapers by merging your images with the background of your choice using powerful alpha-blended fades. A configurable timer automatically changes the desktop to display your pictures in the way that you want to see them. Just select one or more directories containing picture files and AWC will create a list of all the images contained in them, randomly select one and format it using a combination of the many available options.
The displayed image can be resized for the best fit to the screen, optionally maintaining its aspect ratio, or displayed at its actual size. You are not limited to the centre of the screen when displaying a picture, as is usually the case in windows, but can display the picture in any of the four corners of the screen or centred on one of the edges. Additionally you can specify that images should always be tiled: again you can specify how the tiles are laid out on the screen rather than simply going from the top left. The real power of AWC lies in the fact that here are lots of options for tweaking the picture to ensure that you get the best possible result on your system. Just open the Preferences screen from the File menu and you can set exactly how you want your wallpaper to appear. Key Features: Select files from multiple directories and their subdirectories; Display file comments; Multiple resizing options: Full Screen, Best Fit and Worst Fit; Alpha blended fade effects for seamless merging of the wallpaper and background; Theme management; Multiple monitor support displays different wallpaper on each monitor; Link to Google Earth; Tile a background image onto the screen before displaying the wallpaper on top of it; Images supported: *.jpg;*.jpeg;*.gif;*.bmp;*.png;*.rle;*.tga;*.pcx; Camera RAW; Change Windows 7 Logon Screen background image.What's new in this version: Version 4.11.2 adds the ability to specify a file containing an alpha-channel mask to be applied to the main image when it is displayed over the background.
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All versions:
3.7 starsout of 76 votes
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Current version:
3.0 starsout of 6 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-6 of 6
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"Small, clean, does what it is supposed to do"
Version: Automatic Wallpaper Changer 4.11.2
Pros
A lot of options (at least everything that i needed) :
1. Tray icon (No taskbar)
2. Wallpaper name with path display
3. Delete wallpaper from tray icon/hot keys
4. Resizing small/big wallpapers
For me, that'll be all I need, so good job.Cons
None that I can think of.
Summary
Great software.
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"The program has never worked and it took 5 downloads."
Version: Automatic Wallpaper Changer 4.11.2
Pros
I do not have anything good to say, it never worked.
Cons
See #2 above.
Summary
#1 says it all
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"Horrible Spam filled crap"
Version: Automatic Wallpaper Changer 4.11.2
Pros
None - immediately deleted after it screwed with Chrome
Cons
Downloaded a "Claro" toolbar that hijacked Chrome and set as default browser, screwed up all my tabs and generally infested my computer.
Horrible that CNET recommends scamware like this -
"Distorted photos."
Version: Automatic Wallpaper Changer 4.11.2
Pros
Easy to install, quick photo change click worked quickly.
Cons
Distorted all of my photo jpgs and many of the jpgs of former Webshots photos. Even uninstalling and reinstalling didn't fix.
Uninstalled permanently.Summary
Pick a different product.
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"great!!!!!"
Version: Automatic Wallpaper Changer 4.11.2
Pros
does what it supposed to do with the flexibility of time and picture that is unparalleled to any other product of its kind!!!
Cons
none that I can thunk of
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"Like most things about it with exceptions noted below."
Version: Automatic Wallpaper Changer 4.11.2
Pros
Excellent user menus and options. Mostly intuitive. Lots of choices as to setup and run features.
Cons
Has no transition options allowing pictures to transition smoothly from one to the other with fades outs, or swirls, or other such options.
When I try to close the open window on the taskbar, the icon is also removed and the program stops. Have to click on the program in the Start menu to restart. Haven't figured out why this happens.Summary
I really like the program (and it's free).
Results 1-6 of 6
