DeskScapes 2.0 Preview is here!

Now Vista users can have their Dreams come true

https://www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes
from WinCustomize Forums

Have Windows Vista? Feeling a little adventurous? Try DeskScapes 2.0 Preview. It's free.

Stardock is pleased to announce that the DeskScapes 2.0 preview version is now available.  DeskScapes allows users of Windows Vista to have animated wallpapers on their desktop. It runs the Stardock created .DREAM format which can contain videos as animated wallpapers or dynamically generated content.

What makes DeskScapes special is that animated wallpapers can be run that use hardly any system resources (obviously this will depend on what animated wallpaper is chosen). It integrates seamlessly with the Windows Vista desktop background dialog so picking animated wallpapers is much the same as picking any other desktop wallpaper.

The Preview build comes with 3 DREAMs:

  1. Watercolor. A dynamic dream that randomizes your desktop background.
  2. Silent Hill. A brand-new video based dream.
  3. Stardock Cube. A simple 3D cube dancing on the desktop

The goal of the preview version is to evaluate the variety of hardware configurations out there running Windows Vista in order to see how well different types of Dreams run.  The three included Dreams were especially chosen to check out 3 very different types of capabilities.

Stardock expects to release DeskScapes 2.0 later this month in time for Object Desktop 2008.

Get DeskScapes 2.0 Preview.

[digg]http://digg.com/software/DeskScapes_2_0_Animated_Wallpapers_for_ALL_Vista_Users[/digg]

29,909 views 26 replies
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Any way to get the Silent Hill dream posted to SDC for us Object Descktop subscribers? I don't want to install the preview to check out the dream.
Fences - Organize your desktop icons today!
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yea, we'll get that up shortly.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
That's cool. Question:[U] Will there ever be DeskScapes for windows XP users? (:(
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thank you Brad.
BTW: have you had a chance to check out the latest dreams in the gallery? ;) 
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well i tried it out on my 13yr old daughters pc, i thought i would surprise her!(she has the only Vista pc in the house) it has Home Premium installed, a very basic pc 1 gig of ram, integrated graphics Intel 82945G 256mb with a 3.1 index rating. Two of the three worked, pretty good but the water color dynamic one would not work at all, i kept getting a driver recovery error. Question is, do Dynamic dreams require more "Power"?? :NOTSURE:
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Dynamic dreams do require a 3D accelerated.  Funny you should mention the Intel 82845G. It was just the subject of a rant by the CEO of Epic games.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ok, that explains it, well.. i did get a "WHOA!! dad thats cool!!" out of her any way! :CONGRAT: :)
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hopefully I will getting a new PC shortly with Vista Home Premium on it ~ Pre Installed .. Will Deskscapes 2 work on this version of Vista ..just wondering ... ;p 
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Stardock has made a lot of people happy today. :CONGRAT:
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I've been using Dreams for a little while since I recently got Vista Premium and it really is an exciting program to have funny. Its much better than most screensavers actually (even though I don't use a screensaver really, this gives you a reason to keep your monitor on) I'm also glad I don't have to get Ultimate to enjoy this software from Stardock that ultimately should be part of everyone's collection (if on Vista).
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ok, what gives? Is quoting broken now? o_O

mike b: Yes DeskScapes 2.0 works on all versions of Vista (running it on my home premium laptop).
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks Bebi ... its all I need to know ... I appreciate it ..  ;)  This is what I had in mind .. WWW Link
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have two monitors connected and would like to run the animated wallpaper only on the second monitor. My primary screen is heavy loaded with windows, I don't see a single pixel of the wall. Right now when I apply a Dream it appears on both monitors. The waving grass uses 10-15% CPU, when running only on one monitor it would consume less CPU - I wonder? (Dual Core T7200, Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GS, Vista Home Premium)
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Many people ask this question.  Displaying it on both monitors does not use an appreciable amount more of your CPU.  It is a function of the graphics hardware.

Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I gave the preview a go last night and couldn't believe how much CPU it uses. I have a Quad6600 overclocked to 3.0 and it was still using up a noticeable amount of CPU on my core monitor while using the waving grass dream. I really want to use Dreams, but FPS in games is a little more important. Also, as the guy above, I am running dual monitors.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top

The grass dream is a video dream and will use more cpu than the others.  The other two should use little cpu.

Also it stops when you are playing full screen games so it is not using any cpu when you play.

Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi, I just registered to share my experience with the 2.0 preview on my Vista Home Premium laptop. All the dreams work quite well for me. The dynamic dreams take about fifteen seconds to load after I click on them. My recommended setting was Regular Quality 2, but I was able to run it up to Top quality with no issues. I'm sure they could look better because my video card is just a Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset Family with 224MB of Video Memory. The process is bouncing around between 0 and 2% of my CPU usage (Intel Core 2 CPU T5500, 1.66 GHz), 2G Ram). The grassy field uses slightly more, but runs just fine. I do notice where the video loops, but I assume thats a normal occurrence. Hope to see the final version out soon! Based on this preview, I would most definitely shell out the money for it!

-Dee
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Dee, I'm surprised you noticed the loop as it should be seamless. If you are noticing a slight hiccup when it loops you may have some codec incompatibility. Check out the following Stardock page that covers codecs, it may be of some help. WWW Link
When Dreamscence and Deskscapes first came out I had a hiccup problem that ended up being caused by Nero 7. I uninstalled it and the problem went away.
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
That's cool.

Question:[U] Will there ever be DeskScapes for windows XP users?
End of quote


Bash2cool: The following is a quote from Frogboy's Object Desktop 2008 Guided Tour thread.

While currently only available for Windows Vista users, Stardock is investigating some of the recent video driver advances on Windows XP...
End of quote



Here's hoping those investigations have good results. :CONGRAT:
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
thanks Carguy, I'll check that out. I have a slew of codecs installed because of TVersity and trying to stream .mkv files.
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Can you revert to Deskscapes 1.0 on Ultimate after installing 2.0? I tried the previw, and now can't run any dreams :(
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I think the 2.0 preview only plays the three dreams it came with.

Uninstall/install?
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Oh. The 1.02 download is there :) Thought they took the link off :)