12-Ants for Windows

Nenad Hrg's 12-Ants is a cute yet slightly creepy desktop enhancement that unleashes an army of digital ants across the user's screen. Although there's not much point to it beyond its potential as a practical joke, it is somewhat amusing and entertaining.

The ants themselves are not particularly detailed or realistic-looking, but at first glance they definitely fool that part of your brain that identifies insects. The program's interface consists of a small dialog box in which users can set their preferences for the ants' behavior. You can adjust the number of ants from three to 50, as well as modify their speed and transparency. You can even customize the ants' behavior, such as directing them to attack the cursor, flee from the cursor, or simply stroll around the screen. There's no Help file, but the features are fairly self explanatory. It seems to be best for a quick laugh or practical joke and doesn't really have much potential for long-term entertainment; more than likely you'll open it, play with it for a few minutes, and be done with it, but it's not bad for what it is. We do think that, depending on where you work, loading it on a colleague's computer while he or she is out to lunch could significantly liven up your workday, but don't blame us if you get in trouble.

This cute widget is free. It comes as a zip file and is accessible after extraction with no need for installation. We recommend 12-Ants to all users.