CNET Editors' review
There's really no need for screensavers anymore--modern computer screens don't run the risk of phosphor burn-in from static images that their predecessors did--but that doesn't stop people from using screensavers for aesthetic reasons. Electric Sheep is one of the more aesthetically pleasing and unique screensavers we've encountered, and we recommend it for anyone who's looking for something a little more exciting than typical screensaver motifs.
Electric Sheep creates psychedelic animations, called sheep, that users can then vote for or against; the more popular sheep have their "genetic code" passed on, and over time the flock of sheep evolves to reflect the characteristics of its most popular members. As new sheep are created they are downloaded automatically to your hard drive, and older ones are deleted to make room. Users can set the maximum disk space used to ensure that the sheep don't take up more space on your hard drive than you want them to. If the idea of evolving, downloadable sheep sounds weird and a little confusing, don't worry; all you really have to do to enjoy Electric Sheep is just sit back and watch its swirling shapes and colors. The animations are extremely high-quality and interesting, and it's hard not to get drawn in by them; we found ourselves watching Electric Sheep for far longer than we intended to. Electric Sheep has a variety of settings to customize its behavior, and online FAQs and user forums answer common questions. Overall, we think that Electric Sheep is a great alternative to traditional screensavers, and we recommend it.
Electric Sheep installs and uninstalls without issues.
Publisher's Description
From ElectricSheep.org:
Electric Sheep is a free, open source screen saver run by thousands of people all over the world. It can be installed on any ordinary PC or Mac. When these computers "sleep", the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep". The result is a collective "android dream", an homage to Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Anyone watching one of these computers may vote for their favorite animations using the keyboard. The more popular sheep live longer and reproduce according to a genetic algorithm with mutation and cross-over. Hence the flock evolves to please its global audience. You can also design your own sheep and submit them to the gene pool.
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All versions:
3.9 starsout of 28 votes
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Current version:
4.0 starsout of 1 votes
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"Hurray for this program!"
Version: Electric Sheep 2.7b34
Pros
Very pleasing to have on any pc.
Cons
Use only with recommended windows version
Summary
This is a joyful program.
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