Snowfall Screensaver

What it does

Snowflakes fall through a dark night sky, drifting a little from side to side on the way down. Nearer flakes are larger, brighter and quicker; farther ones are small, faint and slow, which gives the fall some depth. Press Start, or Go Fullscreen to fill the screen. Until you do, it is a still picture of the same snowfall.

Speed and Density each have three steps, and both can be changed while it runs: Calm and Slow for a few lazy flakes, Busy and Fast for something closer to a blizzard.

Where it works well

• A spare monitor in winter, full screen, as something with a little movement in it.
• A shop window or a party screen, where a screen that is otherwise blank would look switched off.
• A dark room, since the sky is dark and most of the screen stays dim.

What it is not

It is drawn in your browser — not filmed, and not a weather report. The flakes are simple round shapes rather than crystals, placed at random, and the page says nothing about the weather where you are. It is also silent. For a sound to go with it, there is Campfire Sounds or Rain Sounds in another tab.

Leaving it running

Keep screen awake is off until you switch it on. If you do, it is held only while the snow is falling, released when you press Stop, hide the tab or leave, and the status line says whether your browser agreed. A screen left on uses power, so switch it off when nobody is watching.