Microsoft unveils Windows DreamScene
Posted by Brad Wardell on 08 January 2007 - 04:47 · 60 comments & 60019 views
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#1 Posted by xxdesmus on 08 Jan 2007 - 04:55
- http://windowsultimate.com/blogs/extras/ar...dreamscene.aspx
a good description with a video...
Slimy
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(8 replies)
#3 Posted by superhuman on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:01
- now, it is called innovation. Love this one
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#3.1 Posted by MrCobra on 08 Jan 2007 - 06:47
- What innovation? WinDVD & PowerDVD could play DVDs or other video on the desktop for years. I think it's crap that they're charging $400 (or more) for this crap to begin with. It's pretty good that people (in other threads) are willing to buy Ultimate because they can use Active Desktop content.
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#3.2 Posted by The_Decryptor on 08 Jan 2007 - 06:57
- You can run Screensavers on your desktop since 95 and such, and lots of other OS's have been doing it.
Don't get me wrong though, i like the idea, but it's not innovative if other people have already done it. -
#3.3 Posted by superhuman on 08 Jan 2007 - 07:56
- No, you guys missed the point. The point is that the thing does not use much cpu but instead using gpu....
I have no idea what are you guys thinking?
Think about some of following wallpapers.
Waves, Waterfalls, water moving, etc. They could be very comfortable to see.
Last edited by superhuman on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:04 -
#3.4 Posted by The_Decryptor on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:09
- Yeah, using the GPU to render images isn't "innovative" either.
There is a app for OS X which forces screensavers to render on the desktop (underneath all other windows, menubar, icons, etc.), so load up Flurry and set it to render on the desktop and you have a motion desktop (pretty much)
And don't forget Enlightenment desktop for Linux, they are doing this as well (one video i saw had the desktop as a small forest with a castle on a hill, and the weather changed between sunny, windy and raining) -
#3.5 Posted by Jugalator on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:14
- "I think it's crap that they're charging $400 (or more) for this crap to begin with."
That's the OS cost with all the tons of its covered features, not this feature alone. :p
You probably have a point in there somewhere, but that's not really the way to make one. -
#3.6 Posted by wicker_man on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:41
- Quote - (superhuman said @ #3.3)No, you guys missed the point. The point is that the thing does not use much cpu but instead using gpu....
I have no idea what are you guys thinking?
Think about some of following wallpapers.
Waves, Waterfalls, water moving, etc. They could be very comfortable to see.
Quite on the contrary, it wouldn't. I have no idea what you're thinking... -
#3.7 Posted by AMDMEFX-55 on 08 Jan 2007 - 16:01
- Quote - (The_Decryptor said @ #3.4)Yeah, using the GPU to render images isn't "innovative" either.
There is a app for OS X which forces screensavers to render on the desktop (underneath all other windows, menubar, icons, etc.), so load up Flurry and set it to render on the desktop and you have a motion desktop (pretty much)
And don't forget Enlightenment desktop for Linux, they are doing this as well (one video i saw had the desktop as a small forest with a castle on a hill, and the weather changed between sunny, windy and raining)
Come all ye Vista haters joine the party. You right what was I thinking using Vista cause Linux and Mac are so much better. -
#3.8 Posted by 8-n-1 on 08 Jan 2007 - 17:32
- Quote - (Jugalator said @ #3.5)"I think it's crap that they're charging $400 (or more) for this crap to begin with."
That's the OS cost with all the tons of its covered features, not this feature alone. :p
Compared to the next level down of the OS, do they justify paying $100+ more?
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(5 replies)
#4 Posted by xxdesmus on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:12
- If used correctly (and with restraint by users) ...this could be very cool.
It's possible to set it up so that if your weather sidebar gadget checks the weather and sees that it is raining outside it can change your DreamScene to show rain on your desktop ...for example. Very cool possibilities with this
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#4.1 Posted by Matt Zander on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:52
- Restraint is the key word. Something simple would be great, something moving all over the place would be a distraction and crazy. The raindrops in the puddle was a nice touch.
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#4.2 Posted by excalpius on 08 Jan 2007 - 20:02
- I use these features to watch movies/tv in the background of a second monitor, behind my winamp, gadgets, etc. I'm very much looking forward to a native solution, rather than kludging it with vlc, intervideo, or other solutions that don't respect the transparencies of gadgets and windows (using windowblinds), etc. Yay!!!!
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#4.3 Posted by ogman on 08 Jan 2007 - 23:36
- Quote - (xxdesmus said @ #4)If used correctly (and with restraint by users) ...this could be very cool.
It's possible to set it up so that if your weather sidebar gadget checks the weather and sees that it is raining outside it can change your DreamScene to show rain on your desktop ...for example. Very cool possibilities with this
Sort off like this? http://www.stardock.com/products/natural/ -
#4.4 Posted by toadeater on 09 Jan 2007 - 02:02
- Quote - (ogman said @ #4.3)Quote - (xxdesmus said @ #4)If used correctly (and with restraint by users) ...this could be very cool.
It's possible to set it up so that if your weather sidebar gadget checks the weather and sees that it is raining outside it can change your DreamScene to show rain on your desktop ...for example. Very cool possibilities with this
Sort off like this? http://www.stardock.com/products/natural/
ROFL. You should look at the name of the poster of this article. This might give you a hint:
Microsoft also worked closely with Stardock during the development of DreamScene and to produce the 3D rendered content including Aurora. -
#4.5 Posted by ogman on 09 Jan 2007 - 03:34
- Quote - (toadeater said @ #4.4)Quote - (ogman said @ #4.3)Quote - (xxdesmus said @ #4)If used correctly (and with restraint by users) ...this could be very cool.
It's possible to set it up so that if your weather sidebar gadget checks the weather and sees that it is raining outside it can change your DreamScene to show rain on your desktop ...for example. Very cool possibilities with this
Sort off like this? http://www.stardock.com/products/natural/
ROFL. You should look at the name of the poster of this article. This might give you a hint:
Microsoft also worked closely with Stardock during the development of DreamScene and to produce the 3D rendered content including Aurora.
Missed the sarcasm, did ya?
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#5 Posted by wd40 on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:14
- Quote -Ultimate Extras won’t be available until January 30th.
windowsultimate.com
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(1 reply)
#6 Posted by osirisX on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:20
- DreamScene? What a silly name. Motion desktop conveys the function so much better. As to the actual feature, it seems more like a novelty which will become annoying after a couple of days of use.
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#6.1 Posted by Jugalator on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:17
- Always when I hear of these things, I think of resource usage.. Probably GPU accelerated so no big deal there; now as for RAM... These things often consume like 50 MB straight away. :p Not that it's much, but as you take together more and more features, you can get to quite big RAM losses. Well, we'll see... A static wallpaper has some quite big benefits though, in that it makes the desktop more "calm". It's a nice idea though and I'm sure some people will like it.
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(1 reply)
#7 Posted by silverboy31 on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:23
- "now, it is called innovation. Love this one" not really been on other desktop systems for a while ie OS X through freeware apps, none the less still pretty cool
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#7.1 Posted by superhuman on 08 Jan 2007 - 07:56
- you missed the point. What special about it is that it used GPU instead of CPU. Never have any appz done this before.
lol-
#9 Posted by +Ely on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:45
- extremely cool, can't wait to use some beautiful background videos, I can only imagine the possibilities of this.
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(1 reply)
#10 Posted by icec on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:50
- Err, I fail to see the utility of this application...
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#11 Posted by +Ely on 08 Jan 2007 - 05:59
- it's not about utility with this sort of thing, it's about beauty. imagine a calmed valley scene with rain falling and the sound of the rain, imagine a jungle scene with the birds singing, imgine a desert scene on your desktop, Think of a nice HD scene as your wallpaper.
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#12 Posted by Novaoblivion on 08 Jan 2007 - 06:03
- This looks so cool, I am such a sucker for eye candy haha!
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(1 reply)
#13 Posted by +Un-Dead Soldier on 08 Jan 2007 - 06:07
- VLC set as wallpaper FTW!
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(1 reply)
#14 Posted by Mathachew on 08 Jan 2007 - 06:23
- Am I the only one that things this was a great move by MS to get 3rd party companies involved? I mean, these companies make Window apps that enhance on what MS didn't do much with. I see this as a good move on MS to be more attentive to what their user base is calling for; well, it's a start at the very least.
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(1 reply)
#15 Posted by Sp3ctranova on 08 Jan 2007 - 07:32
- While I don't deny the fact that this is really super awesome and I'm sure to be messing around with it one day, I think that it could prove to be very distracting.
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#15.1 Posted by Smigit on 08 Jan 2007 - 09:55
- Yeah I'd imagine so. I think it would be nice for the types of wallpapers that are predomintly one colour and make use of hues or glowing effects. Over the course of a few hours you could have it very gradually and subtly change colour. I wouldnt want anything too action packed happening.
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#16 Posted by Dias on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:23
- VLC has nothing to do with this, read here:
http://www.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=140735&c=1
cut
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The first enhancement is a new program called DeskScapes. DeskScapes extends DreamScenes to support dynamic content (i.e. videos are pre-rendered). With dynamic content, you could have your wallpaper change based on weather, time of day, or news. Or you could just have some cool Direct3D "stuff" that runs (like one of those fish aquariums running as your wallpaper).
..
cut
Just try to imagine how useful this kind of technology can be.
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#17 Posted by SamNeeds on 08 Jan 2007 - 08:47
- This is effectively the 'tweak' which was discussed on the forums not too long ago then? Where a tweak was applied and the background could use a screensaver as a 'dynamic background'?
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#18 Posted by azz0r_wugg on 08 Jan 2007 - 09:52
- Excellent, can't wait!
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(1 reply)
#19 Posted by Smigit on 08 Jan 2007 - 09:53
- Nice feature although it's a feature I would expect would be more wanted by your average home user so it being in the Extreme edition sounds a bit odd to me. Seems like something mums and dads would like to use but will never get the chance to because they wont be running this OS version.
Still nice but. -
#19.1 Posted by excalpius on 08 Jan 2007 - 20:10
- Agreed. The Ultimate choice is clearly a marketing one, trying to make the ridculous price MS wants for the bloatware version seem less onerous. The truth of the matter is that this is the sort of thing that should be in ALL versions of Vista since it actually shows something eye-candyish and cool and unique that looks great on the showroom floor or at a friend's house when demoing the new OS. This new feature SHOULD have been used to sell Vista as a whole...period. Tying into the Ultimate bloatware fee is a mistake. Too much segmentation in Vista...period.
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(3 replies)
#22 Posted by 1Way Jonny on 08 Jan 2007 - 11:58
- hahhaa to all those guys that slammed this feature and assured it didnt exist and was never coming...
and i shall point and laugh at those who say this feature isn't great but my OS cant do it, yea its not the greatest feature but no else has done with GPU acceleration. nothing new your right but 1st to do it.
bet is mac OSX did it would be praised ... no? -
#22.1 Posted by C_Guy on 08 Jan 2007 - 16:46
- Mac fans will praise Apple for anything and everything they do. That's the beauty of loving Mac, they can do no wrong.
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#22.2 Posted by brianshapiro on 08 Jan 2007 - 17:42
- the announcement says nothing about running 3d animations on the desktop like aurora, only looping videos. although i dont see why not
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(4 replies)
#23 Posted by ogman on 08 Jan 2007 - 15:52
- *yawn*
More Vista - WindowBlinds Edition.
At least the $400 OS comes with a screensaver/wallpaper. Hasn't Geiss been doing this for years? -
#23.1 Posted by AMDMEFX-55 on 08 Jan 2007 - 16:12
- Quote - (ogman said @ #23)*yawn*
More Vista - WindowBlinds Edition.
At least the $400 OS comes with a screensaver/wallpaper. Hasn't Geiss been doing this for years?
I can see you know alot about computers. I did not know the wallpaper and screensaver were the core of the os. Man thanks for your knowledge of Windows Vista. I was wondering why the hell Ultimate coast $400. Yawn oh sorry I am tired your quiet boring so yawn your way out of here. -
#23.2 Posted by ogman on 08 Jan 2007 - 23:28
- Quote - (AMDMEFX-55 said @ #23.1)Quote - (ogman said @ #23)*yawn*
More Vista - WindowBlinds Edition.
At least the $400 OS comes with a screensaver/wallpaper. Hasn't Geiss been doing this for years?
I can see you know alot about computers. I did not know the wallpaper and screensaver were the core of the os. Man thanks for your knowledge of Windows Vista. I was wondering why the hell Ultimate coast $400. Yawn oh sorry I am tired your quiet boring so yawn your way out of here.
LOL! A bit testy are we?
For $400 I expect some innovation, not some bought-and-paid-for special effect. I'm starting to wonder why Brad Wardell is not the CEO of Microsoft. -
#23.3 Posted by AMDMEFX-55 on 09 Jan 2007 - 00:36
- Quote - (ogman said @ #23.2)Quote - (AMDMEFX-55 said @ #23.1)Quote - (ogman said @ #23)*yawn*
More Vista - WindowBlinds Edition.
At least the $400 OS comes with a screensaver/wallpaper. Hasn't Geiss been doing this for years?
I can see you know alot about computers. I did not know the wallpaper and screensaver were the core of the os. Man thanks for your knowledge of Windows Vista. I was wondering why the hell Ultimate coast $400. Yawn oh sorry I am tired your quiet boring so yawn your way out of here.
LOL! A bit testy are we?
For $400 I expect some innovation, not some bought-and-paid-for special effect. I'm starting to wonder why Brad Wardell is not the CEO of Microsoft.
Yea you would be also just read your post. It's obvious your hate Windows so. I’m not trying to be an ass but man come on there is more to Vista the themes and wall papers. Vista ultimate x64 is like windows xp x64 and media center and server 2003 all in one. I think $400 for Ultimate is cheap if you use all the features. Also no one is forcing you or anyone to pay $400 you simple 1. Do not buy it or 2. Buy a different version of Vista. If you don't need it don't buy it. So if you do not buy it you can't complain about it. If you complain about it why are you even buying Vista it's again obvious you hate Windows so what are you doing here go complain to someone that cares like Microsoft. We don't care how you feel about it go do a survey at Microsoft. -
#23.4 Posted by ogman on 09 Jan 2007 - 03:33
- Quote - (AMDMEFX-55 said @ #23.3)Quote - (ogman said @ #23.2)Quote - (AMDMEFX-55 said @ #23.1)Quote - (ogman said @ #23)*yawn*
More Vista - WindowBlinds Edition.
At least the $400 OS comes with a screensaver/wallpaper. Hasn't Geiss been doing this for years?
I can see you know alot about computers. I did not know the wallpaper and screensaver were the core of the os. Man thanks for your knowledge of Windows Vista. I was wondering why the hell Ultimate coast $400. Yawn oh sorry I am tired your quiet boring so yawn your way out of here.
LOL! A bit testy are we?
For $400 I expect some innovation, not some bought-and-paid-for special effect. I'm starting to wonder why Brad Wardell is not the CEO of Microsoft.
Yea you would be also just read your post. It's obvious your hate Windows so. I’m not trying to be an ass but man come on there is more to Vista the themes and wall papers. Vista ultimate x64 is like windows xp x64 and media center and server 2003 all in one. I think $400 for Ultimate is cheap if you use all the features. Also no one is forcing you or anyone to pay $400 you simple 1. Do not buy it or 2. Buy a different version of Vista. If you don't need it don't buy it. So if you do not buy it you can't complain about it. If you complain about it why are you even buying Vista it's again obvious you hate Windows so what are you doing here go complain to someone that cares like Microsoft. We don't care how you feel about it go do a survey at Microsoft.
Whoa boy, calm down. I don't "hate Windows" at all. Why is it that some people think that everyone who disagrees with them is a "hater"? I think Windows XP is a great operating system, but I think Vista is a disappointing effort with a ridiculous pricing scheme. As for the rest of your rant, I'll feel free to express my opinion and I'll be happy to let you express yours. ;o)
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(1 reply)
#24 Posted by Ridgeburner on 08 Jan 2007 - 18:13
- Most of the nay-sayers here are just very closed minded people. Anyone who pays attention to technological advances knows that most revolutionary ideas and concepts start out as silly gimmicks and 'eye candy' apps. Imagine what this could produce in 2-3 years time, possibly even less. The possibilities are endless. +1 from me.
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#24.1 Posted by NightmarE D on 08 Jan 2007 - 18:21
- Exactly
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(1 reply)
#25 Posted by NightmarE D on 08 Jan 2007 - 18:27
- All the possiblie things you can do with this is crazy.
For all the people saying it's nothing more than eye-candy and that it's already been done, shut up for once.
Has animated wallpapers or video files ever been set to the desktop before?
Yes
Have they ever been low on CPU usage and used the GPU only?
No
Has there ever been wallpaper that could change with the time of day, weather or show the news?
No and don't even try to say it was done with Active Desktop (we're not talking about setting websites as your desktop background) -
#25.1 Posted by ogman on 08 Jan 2007 - 23:37
- Quote - (NightmarE D said @ #25)All the possiblie things you can do with this is crazy.
For all the people saying it's nothing more than eye-candy and that it's already been done, shut up for once.
Has animated wallpapers or video files ever been set to the desktop before?
Yes
Have they ever been low on CPU usage and used the GPU only?
No
Has there ever been wallpaper that could change with the time of day, weather or show the news?
No and don't even try to say it was done with Active Desktop (we're not talking about setting websites as your desktop background)
Nah, more like Natural Desktop: http://www.stardock.com/products/natural/
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(1 reply)
#26 Posted by TC17 on 08 Jan 2007 - 21:12
- The last thing someone needs is moving wallpaper taking cpu/gpu cycles away on an already bloated operating system.
I can imagine how this would be so distracting, having a moving background when you are trying to work on something. -
#26.1 Posted by Doctor J. Beam on 08 Jan 2007 - 22:06
- If it's distracting, turn the damn thing off! Run your app maximised! Don't put an epileptic animation as your background!
It's really not rocket science, mate.
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(1 reply)
#27 Posted by Aero Ultimate on 08 Jan 2007 - 22:14
- Video as wallpaper might be nice to look at for a few minutes, but will go on your nerves quickly after that
Funny playtoy at the very best, but a very long shot from justifying the exploitative Ultimate price
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#27.1 Posted by Danrarbc641 on 09 Jan 2007 - 10:38
- This isn't the only Ultimate Extra you know.
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(1 reply)
#28 Posted by picklesworth on 30 Jan 2007 - 21:52
- Sweet! Pr0n all day, 24-7! Even on the desktop! Woohoo!
During the demonstration, Microsoft showed how little CPU DreamScene uses thanks to its utiliziation of the Desktop Windows Manager (DWM).
Microsoft tapped WinCustomize.com (a Neowin.net partner) to host third-party created content on a new site called Dream.WinCustomize.com. Microsoft also worked closely with Stardock during the development of DreamScene and to produce the 3D rendered content including Aurora.