Screen2Dream is a portable application for Windows XP or Windows Vista that requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0. The software program will automatically provide the means to turn any installed system screensaver into an animated desktop wallpaper.

This is done by pressing by selecting one of the available screensavers and pressing the start button in the program’s interface afterwards. Each screensaver is shown in a small preview window in the interface as well to aid the user in the decision.

Unlike a screensaver the animated desktop wallpaper will continue to be shown even if the user starts working with the computer again. Pressing the stop button in the application will turn the animated desktop wallpaper off and display the previous desktop background again. The only other option provided in the interface is to start the application with Windows.

The desktop manager provides several methods of accessing the parts of the desktop that are not visual. It displays a slider in the upper right corner of the screen that can be used to access another part of the desktop. The second and probably most comfortable solution is to use the mouse-wheel while clicking the left or middle mouse button to scroll left or right. The third and final option is to open the quick nav bar by clicking on the slider and use the navigation bar to access another part of the desktop directly. The desktop scrolls seamlessly by connecting the end and beginning together.

By default only the Windows Taskbar stays in place all the time to provide access to its functions. All other windows and applications will remain in place which means that some of them will not be accessible when in the wrong part of the computer desktop.

This can be changed in the options of the 360 desktop manager so that applications will always be in the visible area of the computer screen. New desktop layouts can be downloaded or created at the official 360 Desktop website. Downloaded desktops can be loaded directly in the application or by dragging and dropping them afterwards in the 360 Manager.

It is furthermore possible to manage so called widgets in the 360 Manager which can only be created on the 360 Desktop website by registered users. Widgets can be pretty much any element that is available on a website like video clips, eBay listings or RSS news feeds which will always be displayed when the desktop manager starts.

One big advantage Linux users have over Windows is that Linux has multiple desktop environment’s built right in, Windows doesn’t. Sure you can get applications to get them, but to be honest I’m yet to discover one which does a completely satisfactory job.

360 Desktop was developed to break the desktop out from the ‘box’ we’re accustomed to and instead provide a panoramic desktop looping in three dimensions and hosting widgets and web gadgets.

Give it a little time when you load it up the first time, don’t get annoyed if it lags a little, you’ll find it soon speeds up. Memory usage is pretty low and scrolling the desktop around is smooth and fluent.

You can use the scroll button on the mouse to move across the desktop rapidly, while a little box in the upper-right hand corner notifies you exactly where on the desktop you are.

I’m going to be using it for a few more days before giving my opinion on it as being more, or less productive then the standard desktop.