Windmill 3D ScreensaverComments on:

By: thomasalan

thomasalan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:27:33 +0000

Mcafee Site Advisor links this company to malware and spyware

By: Blingblitz

Blingblitz — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:23:46 +0000

I really like GAOTD & enjoy & get useful advice from the comments. I downloaded the screensaver. Had read that it looks best in 800×640 (?) mode & obviously made the mistake of changing it in the manager instead of Windows. The screen save came on for 5 seconds & then a blue screen. I worked for 14 hours trying to fix my PC. It deleted all my restore points & created quite a mess. I can get online now & do most programs but there are still things missing. Don’t believe I can get back what I had without much more tedious work. From now on I’m going to backup my restore points to jump drive. I still love this site. I’ve had no problems with other programs & I believe it was my fault by changing the resolution in the manager.

By: justin

justin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:27:42 +0000

okay, it’s good, but why would you pay $20 for it? I like it but I wouldn’t pay for it

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:25:58 +0000

As I have said before, I will NEVER download and install screensavers, as most are like an evil disease that spreads,takes up not only unnecessary space, are not required, but worst of all, play around with your computer, often in nasty ways. Stay well clear unless you like having to restore or reinstall everything again ! Thanks GAOTD, as you will guess, I will pass on this !!!

By: Neil

Neil — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:52:10 +0000

All I get when I try to preview is a green screen followed by a black screen with a moving white square. Unistalled (both screensaver and manager) re-installed, same thing. Oh well, too late in the offer to really worry about getting a fix, but I thought I’d voice my problems. Don’t really like screen savers any way.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:48:58 +0000

Thanks GAOTD! I wouldn’t want a screensaver every day but I’ll happily have one now and then. This one’s A-OK.

By: Fubar

Fubar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:42:30 +0000

#46, ZF, while it’s unfortunate that you took my post as insulting, I absolutely stand by everything I said in it. The fact that Astro Gemini and some other screensaver developers install a screensaver manager, which has some useful features but is primarily to promote their screensavers, is well known and an old issue, as is the fact that screensavers can be run with power management, and can be run standalone. Every time screensavers are posted, the screensaver-haters scream and whine and bitch and moan about all sorts of supposed malware issues. The only potential malware issue is the one which eeZee noticed and I commented on in post #45. What I failed to mention is that many companies know vast amounts of information about you. The credit bureaus and anyone who uses their information knows a great deal about you, including employers. Microsoft receives lots of information about me during crash dump feedback, and any usage information which I have allowed. My security software provider knows every single application installed on my computer. Google knows more about you than anybody, far more than the credit bureaus, perhaps more than friends and family members know about you. And since the NSA taps all communications traffic of all types, they probably know even more about you. And don’t forget that absolutely everything that you send or receive over the Internet is public, unless it’s encrypted or sent over a secure connection. If information about your use of the Astro Gemini Screensaver Manager is being sent to Astro Gemini, then they should definitely inform you, but in the scheme of things, it’s a very minor issue.

The fact that Astro Gemini installs software in folders clearly labeled “Astro Gemini” is a non-issue. The amount of storage space they use on your drives is trivial. I never see anyone here whine and bitch and moan about the severe damage that most serious application installations do. Most wreak havoc with your registry, critical system files, frequently other installed applications, codecs, etc. And if you want to install anything other than what your computer originally came with, there’s not a lot that you can do about it. All of the super-duper registry cleaner fixer-uppers don’t do squat to repair any real damage. Almost all software, no matter who the vendor is, including Microsoft, will do some damage upon installation. And most serious applications will add, remove, and modify software and settings all over your computer, no matter where you tell them to install themselves. Why don’t you try tracing an installation of Microsoft Office? Basically, everything that you complained about was just the installation of Astro Gemini’s Screensaver Manager, which is easily uninstalled if you’re so concerned about a few megabytes of space. And I was serious about the fact that my computer will frequently record 70 GB per day (high-definition TV takes up a lot of disk space).

By: TNT

TNT — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:40:14 +0000

Look MAGIC Windmill! It turns although the blades are just frames!

By: CRD

CRD — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:06:55 +0000

Well I'll admit it, I dont like to use screen savers. But thats not the reason I disprove of this one. Thanks to # 12, 19, and 29, for pointing out the security issue about the app wanting to phone home. I use a dedicated anti dialer just for this reason. a-square, the same people who gave away Mamutu a few days back, have a free Anti Dialer. Since it's a screensaver and not a program that needs updating like a virus app., there is no need for it to be phoning anyone. The only time it should phone is when it's verifying a registration, thats it. Finally for those with extra resources please, please consider this: World Community Grid. They use those resources for reasearch. Thanks anyway GAOTD!

By: ShadowThunder

ShadowThunder — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:30:55 +0000

I do enjoy collecting screensavers, testing out various companies and such. The one I’ve been using for a while was a previous giveaway: Moon by Rixanne.

Astro Gemini, I’ve found:
– doesn’t activate very smoothly (I’m 1 for 3 in terms of giveaways)
– doesn’t have the best looking graphics (Garden 3D and Bungalow 3D, I wasn’t very impressed with)
– I can’t stand the manager; it’s intrusive and is self nagging

But from reading these reviews, this one:
– activates well
– looks good
– easily bypasses the manager

hmm…