When Microsoft introduced Windows Vista, one of the aesthetic improvements for the operating system was DreamScene, a feature that allowed playing videos in a loop as the desktop wallpaper. The computers of that time could barely run Vista, and a background video did not help at all, but times have changed, and the application Desktop Movie aims to bring back the DreamScene feature, with several extra options to improve its functionality.
Videos as desktop wallpaper. It should be something relatively natural, but the concept was never properly developed. As I mentioned above, Microsoft tried it in Windows Vista with DreamScene, however, the mistakes made by the Redmond giant were several and very big. First, it decided that it would be an exclusive feature of Vista Ultimate. Second, the list of supported formats was quite short. Finally, DreamScene destroyed the computer's performance (while Aero also took its toll) and the battery on portable systems. DreamScene never managed to escape Windows Vista, and to bring it back in Windows 7 (or higher) an external tool is necessary. Desktop Movie is one of them.
A very positive aspect of Desktop Movie is that it takes less than 200 kilobytes and does not require a formal installation, meaning it is a completely portable program, without major dependencies or additional modules. Even so, the two strongest points of Desktop Movie are its compatibility with playlists (in case you want to watch more than one video), and the possibility of assigning the video to a specific monitor. Several players on the market have the ability to provide similar functions, but Desktop Movie manages to keep the icons on the desktop visible.
Without a doubt, Desktop Movie presents itself as a superior solution to the original DreamScene, although I must admit that it doesn't work as well, or at least, not on my test machine. When activating the playback mode and placing the video as the background, the operating system determined that it was necessary to switch to the basic color scheme, and the use of the Overlay Mixer introduced issues when working with image editors (a screenshot of the desktop sent to the editor continued playing the movie… "inside" the editor). Problems with Catalyst drivers version 13.x were also reported, and support under Windows 10 has its rough edges. Does it deliver what it promises? Yes, but it is difficult to recommend it at this time. If you want to download a copy anyway and do your own tests, you will find the link below.
