Purchase a license bundle which includes codes for version 6, version 5 and 4.5, supporting Windows XP, Vista, and Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.10. Simple Installers: Creates full-featured installers/uninstallers for Macintosh and Windows. Screensavers can be previewed from the installer, and can be used immediately after installation without restarting. DarkSide of the Macintosh is an application based screensaver for Macintosh computers running System 7.0 or later. DarkSide can be downloaded from both this page. It is also available from most online services, and through user groups.
After installing, setting up and checking out over 50 Mac Screen Savers (!!!), we’ve narrowed our “best of” list down to our favorite 7. Each of them has been tested to ensure they work in the latest version of OS X (El Capitan, 10.11). They are all free and rather unique from each other.
Screensavers For Mac Air
Play classic Nintendo games from within your screen saver! This one is so awesome we wrote an entire guide on how to install and set up UberNES (link will open in a new tab/window).
You can “jump” right into games and play them from where they left off in the screen saver. Or start from the beginning.
Download: UberNES
This one is a replica of your iPhone’s “Lock Screen”. It displays the time and a (slow) moving background image, in addition to the ‘Slide to Unlock’ bar that we’re all so familiar with. As it happens, we have a whole bunch of the iOS 9 Wallpapers and Lock Screen images for you to download and use to make this screen saver even more realistic.
You can customize the screen saver in quite a few ways, from changing the wallpaper to formatting the time and text.
Download: iOS Lockscreen Screen Saver
Skyrocket is remarkably hypnotizing. It’s a never-ending “fireworks show” that takes place in a football field. Imagine yourself on a flying-carpet, zooming through a fireworks-filled night sky.
Download: Skyrocket
The name pretty much sums it up. Your monitor(s) will turn into giant “Apple Watch” clocks, which actually look pretty cool, especially when displayed on a large screen in a shared area.
Download: Apple Watch
If you like Apple’s built in screen saver “Flurry” – Flux is for you. Flurry was my go-to screen saver for years – until I discovered Flux. It’s more colorful and has a whole slew of Options you can tinker with.
Download: Flux
Euphoria is one of those “fractal/geometric” screen savers. With a whole bunch of presets and the ability to customize everything, it’s my favorite of that type.
Download: Euphoria
This one has amazing possibilities if you’re willing to do some research and a bit of trial-and-error testing. In a nutshell, Webview allows you to view webpages, including “live updating” sites, as your screen saver. Visit the Webview’s home page for a list of sites and URLs that work really well with Webview. It’s easy to customize and add your own web sites. My favorite way of utilizing Webview is to use this URL:
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends/visualize?pn=p1
and get a constantly updated list of what’s trending on Google.
Download: Webview
Now you can feel like an ensign on board the enterprise every time you use your computer. Make your Mac display LCARS-style backgrounds that move and animate. Even listen to the ambience of the subtle “blips and bleeps” of the computer. Now close your eyes and pretend you are on the bridge…
1. Download and install the System47 screen saver by meWho (a newer version is available on MacUpdate, which seemed to work better on Mavericks)
2. Set it as your default screensaver
3. Run this command from Terminal:
This will run the screen saver as a background process, and will replace your background with an animated LCARS display. You can still use the computer as normal with this running–the perfect blend: Star Trek and OS X.
The screensaver also has audio for that authentic Star Trek bridge ambience. And it even works great on multiple monitors!
Mac Screensaver Photos
To stop the screensaver, run this command:
If your computer is a bit older and slower, this might not be best to run all the time since it will use some of your CPU to run continually in the background.
Have fun and watch out for that Klingon Bird-of-Prey on the starboard bow.
Do this using an app
Free Mac Screensavers
If you are not a fan of Terminal, take a look at my app! It will start and stop the live wallpaper for you and will work with any other screensaver.