Tell me the truth. You use the screensaver on your Mac, right? If it’s not beautiful photos of where you’d like to be, or family photos to remind you of where you are, a Mac users screensaver is a personal reflection of, well, something important and deeply psychological.
My screensaver has a bunch of photos of my children, with an occasional photo of daddy thrown in to make him feel wanted. But something is missing in all the Mac screensavers. Something obvious.
A Screensaver’s Advantages
I’m not convinced that screensavers actually save screens any more. LCD burn in isn’t the same as the old Mac and PC monitors which could burn in an image that would last a lifetime.
Mac users today use a screensaver as security, locking the Mac until a password is entered (handy for an office environment).
Most of us use a screensaver thinking it gives the Mac a break when we’re not there. Reality Alert!™. Your Mac doesn’t care.
The rest of us a screensaver to show off family photos, children’s photos, dreamy vacation locations, and so on. Mac OS X ties your screensaver directly into iPhoto so you can create screensavers from your photos.
But, something is missing in most of our photo album screensavers.
The Missing Link—Utility
Assuming we’re busy but nearby, and our Mac screensaver is on and functioning properly, how will we know that we’ve received email? Or a Twitter tweet? Or an iCal alert?
See the problem? That’s why Status Screensaver is a very cool, handy, useful utility, and adds the perfect touch to your Mac.
You know those little status badges that pop up in your Mac’s Dock? Wouldn’t it be nice if they could pop up and be visible while the screensaver is running? That’s what Status Screensaver does.
Little notification badges appear at the bottom of your Mac’s screen while the screensaver is running.
Preferences Alert, Preferences Alert
No self respecting Mac utility is complete without a handful of handy preferences, right?
You can select the screensaver, select the badge alert color, and select the modules that actually give you Dock alerts.
You’ve seen Mail, of course. Other alerts come from other Mac utilities and apps. iCal, for example, pops up To Do items.
iChat can notify you of incoming calls. MacBook and MacBook Pro users can even set Status Screensaver to warn when battery life is getting low. Get notifications from Twitterific, Vienna, Things, NetNewsWire and others.
You Mac might have a screen full of beautiful photos cycling from one to the other, but utility is the name of the game, and that’s what you get. Notifications and alerts, and beautiful photos.
Not all Mac utilities or apps give notifications, of course, so you’ll need to pick and choose carefully. Even better, it’s holiday cheer time, and what better way to celebrate the commercialization of a busy holiday season than with free Mac software.
Mac Status Screensaver is free as in beer. Donations accepted, naturally.
About Alexis Kayhill
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