Screensaver Builder

It may look like a complicated toy, but Screensaver Builder has strong rich-media support and solid distribution features that elevate it above more humdrum packages.

It produces high-quality screensavers by mixing pictures, music, video, Flash animations, and even RealMedia or Windows Media Player movies. It also provides plenty of transition effects, including wipes, stretches, and dissolves. You can save your finished product as a screensaver file, a standalone executable, or an installation package, complete with shareware limitations.

However, some distribution features are disabled in the demo. A larger problem is the interface, which consists of a vertical progress bar, a pull-down menu bar, and a tabbed window. It's actually simple once you get the hang of it, but the learning process takes longer than it should, thanks to the inadequate help file.

Screensaver Builder is simple enough for beginners and powerful enough for professionals; the trouble is that neither group is likely to realize it.