Windows 7 Desktop Slideshow revealed

Rafael Rivera has done it again. In case you were wondering, yes, this is exactly why I’ve asked him to help write “Windows 7 Secrets”.

Curious as to what else was under Microsoft’s elaborate lock, key, and duct-tape protection scheme mentioned earlier, I had my friend Chris Holmes run a scan of his 7 system, as I’m still babying my laptop’s SSD drive. What we found were ties into system files littered across the entire operating system. Post-analysis revealed another feature tucked away in the corner – Say hello to (what I think should be called) Desktop Slideshow.

Desktop Slideshow, at least in build 6801, supports changing of the desktop wallpaper at intervals ranging from 10 seconds to 1 day. For a bit of variation, you can tick the Shuffle checkbox to have Windows 7 randomly pick a wallpaper for you. And to keep from sapping the life out of your laptop, you can choose to pause the slideshow when you’re on limited reserve. Think of this as Dreamscene, but without the ensuing nightmares.

For those of us that don’t have terabytes of imagery to keep your desktop fresh, you have a new source in the Picture location dropdown labeled Feeds. From this interface, you can choose an RSS feed and automatically download fresh images, like NASA’s Large Image of the Day, to your desktop. At time of writing, however, this feature was not completely functional.

Awesome stuff. Check out the original post for a cool video too.

Discuss this Article 67

robertsjoe
on Nov 4, 2008
@shark47: I don't care who came up with it either. But people like Paul do. Like I said, he keeps on bringing up "Windows demoed search before Apple". Obviously he does. And that's annoying. Especially for someone who keeps harping on about how it doesn't matter who came up with what. And like I said, neither did. I had great desktop search apps years before the MS demo or Apple's Spotlight.
RaaJ
on Nov 4, 2008
It is imbeciles on the Apple's side of the fence that keep shouting how OS X is so much superior to Windows because it has all these newfangled thingamazings - be it spotlight or eyecandy or whatever. It is imbeciles like the iSuckups here that claim Microsoft copied Apple's Spotlight [not that third party search that they now acknowledge was implemented before Apple did.] Like Dear Leader, iSuckups will say whatever it takes to make themselves feel more intelligent for having forked out more cash and bought limited choice. Imbeciles. iSuckups. Ap[ple]ologists.
Lindy
on Nov 4, 2008
Easy Raaj, you might blow something. Its not healthy to care so much for so little:) Did you know President Obama is a Mac man!!
shark47
on Nov 4, 2008
"Did you know President Obama is a Mac man!!" Is that why you were supporting him? Not because you liked his policies, but that he used a Mac? "OS X, brother" ;-)
RaaJ
on Nov 4, 2008
Lindy: I don't care what computer one uses. I hate hypocrisy. And I hate bigoted trolls. P.S.: 'Welcome the change, one and all!'
RaaJ
on Nov 4, 2008
Oh, and may I remind you Lindy: it seems Karl Rove uses a Mac too. :D
robertsjoe
on Nov 4, 2008
@raaj: "It is imbeciles on the Apple's side of the fence that keep shouting how OS X is so much superior to Windows because it has all these newfangled thingamazings - be it spotlight or eyecandy or whatever. It is imbeciles like the iSuckups here that claim Microsoft copied Apple's Spotlight" Thank you! Finally, it's good to see that you agree that Apple and its users are superior and more intelligent. You have to relax and don't get so worked up. Look, I understand how hard it would be for you and other Microsoft users to switch to Apple. It's hard to admit that you were wrong all along. That you invested so much time on something inferior. Why do you think that Paul has so much anger and hatred for Apple? It's hard to admit you were wrong. It's easier to hate and write an anti-Apple SuperSite for Windows blog than to do so. It's hard to be enthused about mediocre products by a company with no taste, like Microsoft.
robertsjoe
on Nov 4, 2008
George W Bush: Hi, I'm a PC. Barack Obama: And I'm a Mac. Pretty much sums them up. Bush would go for the Evil Empire. Obama for taste.
robertsjoe
on Nov 4, 2008
@blakes7: Vista 2 is the same old crack-whore with slightly different make-up.
robertsjoe
on Nov 4, 2008
OK, it looks like Microsofties are actually deaf and blind. As this factual chart shows, you're in a pool full of anti-Apple hatred. http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/5821/supersiteformicrosoftfatu1.png I'm going to sign-off for good.
RaaJ
on Nov 5, 2008
Robertsjoe: You have demonstrated that your only intent is to troll on this site. Why don't you sign-off forever? I use XP, Vista, Tiger and Leopard, as well my iPhone 3G every day, so I know very well what the strengths and shortcomings of Apple and Microsoft products are. To pretend that Apple products are 'superior' is intellectually dishonest at best. They are at best on par with every other solution, when all things considered (price, choice, flexibility, features, issues, etc.).
shark47
on Nov 5, 2008
blakes, raaj: The easiest thing to say would be, "ignore the trolls." Of course, ignoring them isn't that easy when you have them shouting in your face. Reasoning with them isn't an option either - not when you see the kind of passion that they have for this kind of thing. I don't know if it's the promise of eternal peace or 72 virgins in heaven, but Steve Jobs' jihadi army sure keeps getting bigger. I've posted this earlier, but will anyone try reasoning with this dude? http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/2008/11/03/microsoft-copied-the-windows-7-... Oh, and I guess I don't need to tell you this - he's a Mac. "OS X, brothers." :-)
shark47
on Nov 5, 2008
OT: When America elects a President and the rest of the world rejoices, it says something about the previous chap, no? :-)
Waethorn
on Nov 5, 2008
Deskmate was the opposite of the Taskbar. It had program "containers", each of which looked like little Program Manager windows. The containers would each have their own program title at the top, and would contain the filenames of files associated with that program. There was no overlapping windows either - they could only be tiled. @mike: That Hyper-V doc is stuff I've already read. None of it addresses my questions though. It might be the "official word" on Hyper-V with SBS, but it still doesn't address the numerous ways you can use storage in Hyper-V.
Waethorn
on Nov 5, 2008
"When America elects a President and the rest of the world rejoices, it says something about the previous chap, no?" Don't expect cheap gas. The dems want to cut NAFTA all to sh*t, and the majority of US crude oil comes from Canada.
Lindy
on Nov 5, 2008
"it seems Karl Rove uses a Mac too" Even pure evil knows the right OS to use:)
Waethorn
on Nov 5, 2008
"Even pure evil knows the right OS to use" Ya. Both use Vista on Boot Camp.

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