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Putting the clumsier applications of animated wallpaper to shame, DeskScapes wields Windows Vista's 3D hardware acceleration to result in crisp, buoyant, sometimes photorealistic animated wallpaper in the .Dream format.
Dynamic wallpaper this nice is a visual extravagance, but one with a catch. You're welcome to use the three bundled deskscapes without charge for as long as you'd like. But the swaying grass and rippling water will pull you to the online gallery of publisher- and user-made motifs you can download for free or for a premium. This is where the app gets you--you can install all the deskscapes you'd like, but you won't be able to use them in DeskScapes without upgrading to the premium version. That knowledge alone may frustrate potential buyers interested in seeing a few more demos before they commit. Either way, anyone looking to add some sparkle and personality to their otherwise static Vista desktop will find in this app a handful of high-quality scenes on the house.
Publisher's Description
From Stardock:
DeskScapes turbo-charges the windows desktop by adding support for animated wallpapers as well as providing a range of real-time effects for users existing desktop backgrounds. It makes use of the hardware acceleration of modern video cards to enable these effects without it slowing down your computer. There are thousands of free animated wallpapers available online and the program comes with several high quality examples of animated wallpapers to try.
What's new in this version: Version 3.50 adds updated new wallpaper effects.
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Installed
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All versions:
3.4 starsout of 74 votes
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Current version:
2.3 starsout of 7 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-7 of 7
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"Won't work"
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
There is nothing
Cons
Installed and it gives me a notice that the trial version I am trying to install is out of date. Too bad, looks awesome.
Summary
Doesn't work. I download it from the link and install. Upon running I get notified that I need the latest version and it gives me a link. The link takes me to the same version I had. Too bad, looks awesome.
Updated on Sep 1, 2012 -
"Good Product"
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
A live wallpaper is cool to look at. Huge database of users that upload new images to the site.
Cons
It would be better if the wallpapers had an option to play sound with the wallpapers. The price should be about half of what their asking. I don't see a need to pay $20.00 for something that ill glance at on occasion. That's what a screensaver is for. And it can be a distraction sometimes or just to much. If they had more static wallpapers with very little movement I would have given this five stars; oh and the price issue as well.
Summary
For all complaints about missing icons, task bars, docks, folders etc., after installing; can be fixed easily. After initial installation you MUST restart your computer. After that everything should be fine. Some animated wallpapers use more ram than others. So instead of just panicking and uninstalling it, restart your computer, if that doesn't fix it then go ahead. If you have slow system then choose a wallpaper that requires the least resources. On their website they tell you the system requirements for each dreamscape wallpaper.
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"Uninstalled 15 minutes after installing"
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
Beautiful pictures.
Cons
The box keep popping up for me to buy. Would not let me open files, also made the computer extremely slow
Summary
Don't bother!!!!
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"DISAPPOINTED!"
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
CRISP FULL SCREEN PICS AS A BACKGROUND.
Cons
IT WIPED MY 20 HOUR SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN GAME. LET YE BE WARNED!
Summary
IT WILL BE UNINSTALLED!
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"Nifty but Does Not Play Nice with Other Apps"
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
- One of the slickest wallpaper animators on the market today.
- Good user following, provides a good selection for customizations.
- Very affordable, at only US$20.Cons
- Upon installation, all but *3* of my taskbar icons no longer displayed! I lost direct access to essentials such as Steam, Dropbox, WD Smartware, OpenOffice Quickstart, etc. Uninstall alone does not restore them; must then restart Windows. I confirmed that it was DeskScapes that is causing this problem by against reinstalling it, and watching my taskbar icons disappear again.
- Also removed access to RocketDock after it autohides. I can no longer bring it back forward, until I uninstalled DeskScapes.Summary
Not sure if it's a bug in just the current version, an incompatibility, or just a limitation of the engine that it has to take over certain resources in order to do its thing. But losing access to so much else is just not acceptable for what essentially is just nifty flair and eye candy. (I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, if that makes a difference.) All other of my apps, even my customization ones (RocketDock, Rainmeter, etc.) play nice together. If only DeskScapes played nice as well, then I would have bought it immediately after seeing what it was capable of.
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"Overloaded my processor."
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
It's a nice animated desktop program, with good graphics.
Cons
Overloads the processor. I have an HP Quad-core processor with 6 Gigs of memory running Windows 7 65bit and it overload only (1) of (4) Cores, but still slowed down. the system.
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"out of the world experience"
Version: DeskScapes 3.50
Pros
an actual video for your background/wallpaper is too good to be true. But for once it is true.
Cons
beside .dream the only format is WMV. hope we could use MP4 too.
Summary
buy the paid version. at $20 (approx) it is a throwaway price.
Results 1-7 of 7
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