If you are leaving the system idle for few minutes, it is better to use "Sleep" option available in Windows 7. This will save power and start-up time is very less. Screensavers are just obsolete fancy stuff and this one is not much appealing.

-Guru

This is not a good screensaver at all. Poor graphics, and of a car I care nothing about. What happened to the pretty good screensavers by 3 Planessoft, or Astro Gemini?? Mechanical Clock, Lost Watch, Windmill, and a couple old Castle screensavers? These, for example were relaxing, and theraputic to look at. The Big City Life of a few weeks ago wasnt good either. Please, GAOTD, if you want to give away screensavers, at least give us some that we, or our coworkers, are worth looking at.

Voodoo Lights from 2000 runs fast and furious on my Windows 7 laptop, too bad I can't say the same for this clunker. GOTD, please don't give up on the screensaver giveaways, some of us just enjoy eye candy.

To #25 (gimme) & #27 (Anon): - Please be careful . . . The star-rating area on GAOTD cannot be taken seriously. As with many other giveaways over the past few months, it has become painfully obvious that this system is easily manipulated and many times conveys dangerous confidence in a program that otherwise most would dare not download. It concerns me that many place their systems at risk by installing programs based on these "stars".

My advice while obvious, is honest. . . give the star-ratings very little weight. Also, hold-off until several hours have passed before attempting to download any giveaway and even then, not until you've read each and every comment others have left here. There is a great deal of important information left by those like Ashraf and many others. Some good . . . some not so great . . . but, combined they will give you enough information to make a well-rounded decision as to whether you wish to test the program that GAOTD has offered.

. . . and hopefully down-the-road, GAOTD will supply us with a star-rating system that cannot be so easily stacked.

@Scat R. Brane (#9):
As I said, I haven't actually tried today's offering, but the easiest/quickest way to check if the program is using Themida like the earlier Outrix giveaways is to run the Sysinternals Process Monitor and then try running the screensaver. Any program using Themida will refuse to run until the next time you reboot, complaining that a monitoring program is running.

If you google the exact error message it displays, you'll find plenty of information tying it to Themida.

Likewise, some additional googling will get you plenty of mentions of Themida's use of rootkit technology.



@Fubar (#12):
I don't think pointing out the general pointlessness of screensavers qualifies as a "senseless rant".

Yes, it's true that "screensavers are fully compatible with Windows power management" in the sense that you can simultaneously enable both a screensaver and the screen blanking . . . but what's the point in burning CPU cycles to display a fancy animated picture while the screen is turned off?

I hope you're not suggesting that the screen blanking interval be artificially increased so that the screensaver can visibly run for a minute or two before the screen blanks. That still to a significant extent wastes electricity and shortens the life of your monitor and it taxes your CPU displaying a fancy animated picture that isn't visible for the vast majority of the time it's running.

There are a few things the screensaver function on a modern computer is useful for:

1) It can be used to provide a continuous informational display of some sort when the computer's not in use.

2) It can be used to lock the computer, since you can set it to require a password when the screensaver shuts off. Of course, if this is the sole reason you're using the screensaver, you should have it set to start the screensaver at the same time or even after the screen blanks and, obviously, you should use the least CPU-intensive screensaver you can find since it's not going to be visible anyway.

3) It can be used to trigger some arbitrary process that you only want to run when the computer's not actively being used. For example, some anti-virus apps include a screensaver component to scan your computer for viruses during idle moments.

However, I still say using the screensaver function to actually display a fancy animated picture is simply a waste. Even if you don't care about the electricity usage (because, say, someone else is paying for it), the fact that your monitor is getting progressively dimmer as it's used should certainly matter to you. They're your eyes, right?

P.S.
I'm aware that LCDs can be subject to a quasi-burn in effect, but it's not really the same thing. In particular, LCD persistence tends to be a temporary effect whereas CRT burn in is most definitely permanent.

It will run on Vista Ultimate 64 bit.
But have to run from the icon short cut. That same as with settings.
All have to be run from the Start Menu.
I could not get it to start from the Personalize, Screen saver Menu.
This is how I did it. To see what it looked like.

I wish Giveawayoftheday would put more Screen Savers on here for the more high end 64bit Vista and 7 computers.

I'm surprised GAOTD would offer this as something people might want to DL, but to actually pay for an (ugly) advertisement for Nissan!!! LOL

Not all screensavers are bad, but this one takes the prize. I would not spend one cent on a program that may contain a rootkit and the graphics are horrible. no thank's i'll pass on this giveaway.

To those asking why this has such a high rating cinsidering the bad reviews. While I was writing my first comment this morning I noticed the screensaver has an average score of between one and two starts depending upon which category you looked at. that was with nearly 30 votes on each caqtegory. within the space of five minutes these votes turned into four stars for most categories and three for a couple, however the number of votes had only risen by 2. Even if those two voters had given all the sections 5 stars they would never have boosted the categories up to four stars. so there has to be something seriously wrong with the system, or someone is hacking the results.

This has already been discussed in the forums with respect to posters such a sAshraf getting amazingly low negative scores for his reviews.

The system really does need checking if it is to be trusted. Otherwise you may has well scrap it altogether.

Rootkit is last thing want or need, thanks anyway gaotd.

4 stars for reasonable price...will people really pay $15 for a ScreenSaver?

Wow. I haven’t seen graphics this cool since… jeez, I gotta go back to ’98. Win98!

I appreciate the offering but to me the graphics look primitive by todays standards (if it's any help I'm running a high-end computer with a 1920x1200 monitor)

I'm not downloading this because I don't use screensavers, and even if I did I have several programs that allow me to save out as screensavers.

I just wanted to leave a tip for the developer:

Not very many people use screensavers today. 1) We don't need to with LCD screens

and 2) With every Windows release after '98 there is so much more runing in the background, that most saavy users turn things off in order to knock down CPU and RAM usage.

There is just a select market that uses them..i.e. doctors offices and hospitals for example still use them, and I suspect more for the password option than anything.

If you really want to sell something online, IMO you should re-think this.

If you are actual programmers and not using some software than generates and allows you to save in .scn format then how about really thinking and coming up with something people might actually need/use.

No where does the developers website mention the trademarks , companies and names for which they use in their products. These screensavers introduce lawsuits from the respective car corporations where their intellectual property is being used. Unfortunately this does not work on a Netbook hooked up to a monitor but I have expected this. This screensaver , while I like to look at them does not look interesting judging by the screenshots offered here.

If you are looking for quality free 3D screensavers without the spyware or malware I suggest you take a look at http://3d-savers.com/

They are higher in quality then this garbage being offered.

In response to post # 5.

I can't comment about the Vendor itself as I really no nothing about them and you maybe correct there.
I'm not even all to sure about your 20 year analogy of screen saver but, who cares lol ?
This is a quote of post # 5...." It is, therefore, generally not a good idea to use a screensaver at all."
That is such bull and anyone with an ounce of brains know this. This topic has been beaten to death here over the years over a screensaver. I say, big whoop !! This argument over how useless a screensaver is is as lame as, well, I think people get the idea.
By todays standards of a screensave, they are for entertainment purposes only.!!!!!
Lots of people collect them for that purpose alone. I also happen to collect these things.
I hear all to often people say " Oh, screensavers are a waste of resources " Perhaps for people that do not like screensavers. I am not sure if people feel because they have a screensaver installed on the computer it will suck the life out of the computer. That is not true at all.
All anyone has to do is when they right click a blank area of their desktop is, select, properties, then screensaver, select a screen saver to view, then select, preview.
After your done playing with a screen saver, all one needs to do is select in the Cat of savers at the top is select none, apply, and ok.
Then the saver will not run in the background.
I to am going to take a pass on this offering today just on the outside chance it could contain a rootkit as stated by post # 5
Although, I thank the give away team for bringing in a screen saver. Bravo to the give away team. I personally like a good screen saver.
Thanks again give away of the day for your offering. Greatly appreciated.

If there are so many bad reviews for this, why is it voted up so highly?... Seriously...

Amazing!! they can't even give this bummer of a program away!!!!

Given the poor reviews, how did this product get such high star ratings, with many votes? It gets 4 stars for "Feature rich", but the reviews say it's just static images accompanied by bad music. 4 stars for "Reasonable price", but the reviews disagree with that, too.

While I am not disputing anything Jim Stone said above, there is something to be said for a visually appealing screensaver. For instance, I have a simple fireplace screensaver I use in the winter or I just use a family picture slideshow. If I leave the room I simply turn it off.

BTW, just turning off the monitor does not turn off a screensaver, it still runs. I had one that would use up 100% of my system resources for hours at a time even though the monitor was off. If you don't want a screensaver to run you will need to turn it off also.

Jim! Brilliant comment. I will watch for Outrix/Themida and "auto-reject".

Otherwise your logic was quite sound but biased. When you got to the "screen savers are no longer necessary" (which is neutral) to "not a good idea", you made a biased leap.

Screen savers are not necessary from the "burn in" standpoint, but can be useful to hide information when you are away from your screen AND can be entertaining. "Not a good idea" implies there's something wrong which you have not demonstrated in your logic up to that point.

HOWEVER: Had you added that, historically, screensavers have been used to invade computers and that even to this day they are being used for that purpose, avoiding them is safer than installing unnecessary software ... unless it is TRULY from a trusted source (Microsoft, built in to windows? I like the bubbles, actually) ... then you would have completed your logic and been very justified with the "not a good idea".

And had you topped it off with "this company uses software known personally by me to use a root kit ..." that would be the last nail in the coffin. Using a medium known for invasion combined with a company known to use a technique associated with invasion ... I don't think any more red flags are necessary.

And seriously, Jim, if you bump into any others that you've caught rootkitting, please shout out. I hate having to clean the computer after a quick trial (use VMWare box for tests now). And I hate wasting time on the download if it's actually "Bad Seed" material.

Now ... If GM or Toyota pays someone to build a REAL screensaver with NO bad parts and it's a cool one with nice scenery in addition to their car ... well, we'll see if something like that lands on GAOTD. :)

I find this one of the most boring screensavers ever. No animation to it - just a series of changing pictures with some rotation. I'll be uninstalling this one. I know that screensavers aren't really required any more, but I view them as an art form that gives me pleasure when I haven't happened to use my keyboard or mouse for a certain period of time, and I have a large collection I change frequently. For this, they do need to be attractive, and this one just doesn't fit the bill. We've not seen anything from 3Planesoft in awhile - how about one from them again?

A screensaver?!?!?! Other matters aside (thanks #1,2,3,4,5) there are too many good freeware options to list for those that seem to hold on to a screensaver as a form of entertainment.
Waste of an opportunity to demo meaningful software.

not touching something with a 10 foot pole. That's clever, must remember it.

This is just disturbing to think that anyone would want this on their system. Is it the crappy graphics that its users like? The worthless value of a screensaver that you don't need and likely will never see (because of its function)? The stress that this program places on your cpu/gpu when you aren't around? The (evidently) rootkit-like function of its copy protection?

With offerings like this, it kind of makes me think that I'm wasting my time by visiting this site.

It looks like an ad for Nissan!

It´s at least worth to mention, that there exist some worse software out in the wild ...

What in the world is the POINT?

I agree with all 5 posted comments above. This is useless and just a ply to get the rootkit installed on computers. Use this at your own risk. If you don't know what a rootkit is do yourself a favor and google it.

I would normally post this in the game giveaway comments section, but as there's none today I’ve had to post it here. This is just a reminder to all giveaway Steam members that there will be a two hour game running from 11pm GMT tonight. It's dedicated to long time fan of the giveaway project G@rgoyle.

You can find more details over in the forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/5232/page/5

If enough members turn up we can have a team deathmatch as well. I'll be re configuring the game for a few levels to emulate a moon like gravity. To play (any giveaway community member is welcome) you need Half Life 2- Deathmatch installed. You can still get this free if you have ether an ATI or NVidia graphics card installed on your computer. You'll find details of that offer somewhere in the thread I've linked to above.

W.R.

..thums down again for this....4 consecutive days of nonsense softwares...what's happening GOTD???...

#5, Jim Stone, yours is typical of the senseless rants that appear here every time a screensaver is offered. For the ten millionth time, screensavers are fully compatible with Windows power management, which means that the PC is still able to turn off the monitor and go into standby/hibernate. LCD's don't burn in, but they can be susceptible to image retention due to charge build-up across the LCD cells (well documented in some owner's manuals), although that will go away over time. Also, some of us enjoy screensavers as standalone CGI animations (but not this one). Outrix doesn't use Themida, that's a false positive, which you can easily verify not only via VirusTotal, but via your security software's monitoring (apart from signatures). I don't tell you what type of vehicle you should or should not drive, it's extraordinarily arrogant of you to tell us what type of software we should or should not use. Just how "green" are you? Are you overweight, which adversely impacts the environment? Do you have more than two children, which has by far the most negative long-term environmental impact of anything that you can do? Even if I used a screensaver as a screensaver, which I don't, the environmental impact would be trivial in the scheme of things. Oh, and my PC can't turn off my LCD (known bug in my LCD, which the manufacturer never corrected).

hmmm... are we sure nobody's doing any advertising here? Subtle aren't they?

I think it's really neet and a good screensawer......... NOT!!!!!!!!!

Sorry but I have to say: "THUMBS DOWN!!!" for this. I can just put different pictures of this car in a map and put it on screensawer and it would be better. And maybe play some relaxing music beside it.

I really don't know why it got 3 to 4 stars in review??? Or is something wrong with my computer and it shows wrong???

@ #5: A *rootkit* ?!
In paid-for software?
Can anyone else confirm that as a fact? Can hardly imagine that's true.


BTW: guess few people take screensavers as useful anymore except for just fun and show off.

Poor show Guys, this screensaver was released in 2007. Looks like screen shots from a car racing game, just joined together. Extremely overpriced for its style and age. Please come up with something thats up to date.
Most of your offerings are good, but not this one. Sorry this is a waster.

Well......Uh, thanks GAOTD for at least giving us an offer like this today that is........different than….. anything in the last week. It's still fun to come here just to see what’s offered; even on the days that I automatically know I'm not even going to bother with the software.

Within the 1st few suggestions, others have said it for me: “Who would spend $15 on a car advertisement….Just eats up performance of your system, not required/useful At ALL!!!:(………….. maybe if the car moved around or did something... anything”.

I’d also have to agree with Rawn: # 1. “Thumps Down ! I really Didn’t like the Graphics”. Maybe, however, I might say ‘thumbs down’ though! LOL!

The author’s 1st 3 screen shots say enough too: It’s mostly pavement with HUGE white marked stripes---is that interesting to anyone? And the car looks like a child’s 1st attempts with a drawing tool!

Again, thanks GAOTD; there’s always tomorrow.
Al

I'm really into screensavers (for the aesthetics and often chill factor), ut to be honest this screensaver looks like its been taken from an outdated racing game from around the turn of the century. The graphics are awful, the perspectives limited and there's very little configurable apart from changing the speed at which the camera changes perspective and the music volume. Very disappointed in this one and certainly won't be purchasing it later (which I’ve done with several of the screensavers previously given away).

There are better freeware screensavers around than this poorly constructed monstrosity. (Sorry Lacombo, you could do a lot better than this)

If you showed a much wider variety of city-scape shots with the vehicle moving along roads with better bump mapping and sharper imagery (the road markings were often blurry and indistinct) I would actually like this type of screen saver. I love racing games that take you along country lanes and through city streets (much better than the traditional rce track type of racing games IMO)

This really is worth a lowly 3 out of 10 for poor effort and bad graphics,


On a lighter note, for those who missed yesterday’s game giveaway, unfortunately there isn't one today. However I have posted some excellent and good quality games over the last week (see weeks 74, 75 and 76) I've posted the latest freeware release from EA games - they have converted the third Command & Conquer title (Tiberium Sun) to freeware, plus I posted several great strategy games such as Caesar II, Imperialism, Hannibal, Pacific General plus more (week 76). you can find all of these in the games discussion forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/17

I also highly recommend Pandora’s Gear box, Worminator 3 and Paper Zombies from week 75

The whole point of a screensaver is to prevent the "burn in" effect you can get by displaying a static image on a CRT for long periods of time, whereby a faint version of that image literally gets permanently burnt into the display.

The thing is, screensavers have been obsolete for something like twenty years now, ever since computers gained the ability to programatically shut off their monitors. Setting your computer to shut off the display when not in use not only avoids the burn in issue (which isn't actually a problem with modern LCD displays anyway), but also saves electricity and increases the lifetime of the display.

It is, therefore, generally not a good idea to use a screensaver at all.

As for this particular screensaver, I can't really comment on its quality since I canceled the installation as soon as I saw it was from Outrix corporation, since previous giveaways from that company have employed the Themida copy protection system, which works by installing a rootkit (a rather nasty malware technique that essentially hacks your operating system).

I wouldn't touch any software that used Themida with a ten-foot pole, even if it actually did something useful.

The screenpics alone scare me off.. and it doesn't move or do anything.. and i should have to pay normally?!?!?! To see an ad of a car i can never buy??! No thanks.. And it probably is run by an executable which runs as a service on my pc..

I can put up with the primitive graphics, the music is OK, but...there's nothing to see! Just different views of a static car with pulsating neon lights underneath. I can't recommend this, but if you're determined to try it, it might be best to right-click Activate and Run as Administrator on Vista and higher. If you have crappy AV software, like Comodo, VirusBuster (Agnitum), etc., you'll need to set up an exception for the false positive. As with the previous Lacombo offering, it doesn't support multiple monitors.

OMG!!! I don't think ppl would pay $14.95 for this.....

Thumps Down ! I really Didn't like the Graphics . Should be more smooth .