After Dark/Intermission. (screen savers) (evaluation)
by Steven Anzovin

Screen burnout occurs when a bright, unchanging image--like the typical Windows screen--is left too long on the monitor. The bright areas "burn in," and the phosphors gradually die. Screen-saver programs protect your monitor's display by blanking the screen when the computer is idle or when you move the cursor to one corner of the screen. But most people really buy a screen saver for the amusing animated graphics the programs display during blanking.

Two screen savers for Windows, After Dark and Intermission, offer similar features--with more than thirty sets of screen animations between the two, plus password protection. With mobile clocks, dragon kites, a choice of moire patterns, and a swarm of bees and wasps, Intermission has a slight edge in graphic cleverness, but I did like After Dark's flying toasters. After Dark's stormy city-scape is eye-catching, too. Both programs offer simple blanking to a black screen for those times when you don't need visual distractions, and either of these programs will do a satisfactory job of saving your screen from the specter of burnout.