16 Slick Screen Savers

Good Fun

3D Asteroids

This free screen saver turns your computer display into the windshield of a rocket ship blasting into the outer reaches of the galaxy. Three-dimensional asteroids hurtle toward your ship, and stars spin in the distance. There's no sound, so this would be safe to use in an office. 3D Asteroids is a great little screen saver, but I found myself a bit frustrated after a while--the impulse to blast at those asteroids was just too strong.

3D Good Ole Summer Time

Feeling stressed? Start up this screen saver, and put a smile on your face. A string quartet plays "In the Good Ole Summertime" as giant 3D daisies and a smiling 3D sun float randomly against an orange sky, and a realistic sun shines overhead. The demo works for seven days; registering the program costs $10.

Happy Farm

Kick back with a mint julep and savor a 3D animation of a peaceful farm scene, complete with cows, horses, bright red chickens, and a tiny farm house. Realistic bird songs and periodic moos provide a soothing accompaniment. Happy Farm's animation is fairly crude--the animals are chunky and their movements aren't quite natural, and effects such as tree leaves shimmering seem a bit off--but on the whole the program is amusing. The trial version runs for seven days, after which you must register for $10.

Matrix Code Emulator

This freebie does exactly what it advertises: It fills your computer display with the famous falling green code seen in the Matrix movies. It's fairly customizable: You can opt to display quotes from the movie along with the falling text, flip the falling glyphs into horizontal or vertical orientation, speed up or slow down the scroll rate, change the screen resolution, and so on. There are no sound effects.

Superman Returns 3D Screen Saver

Watch Superman zoom between skyscrapers, past billboards showing scenes from the upcoming movie Superman Returns, accompanied by your choice of various Superman themes. But be careful: If you've got problems with vertigo, this is not the screen saver for you. The developer offers it for free as a tribute to his favorite superhero.