this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
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Any Wallpaper Engine enthusiasts here that can educate me as to why it’s so popular?
Is it really that much better than just finding wallpapers with an image search like in the old days?
Wallpaper engine allows for animated/video wallpapers. When I used windows I had this cool neutron star wallpaper that would spin around
I thought those were a waste of resources when that kind of feature debuted with Windows Vista, but I'm the kind of guy who runs Xfce with animations turned off, so...
I'm with you, but I guess lots of people are like oohhh shiny. Want
It's not images, it's 'live' animated wallpapers. Like on android. I use one of the built-in ones that acts as a... I can't think of the term, like a visualizer of what part on the sound spectrum is being played, but in circle form instead of just horizontal. When I'm not playing music, it acts as a pixel-style 'flying through space' like Win 9x screensavers.
I've tried others on the workshop, and they are fun to poke at, but I never keep them long. Rainmeter fits my needs so more basic wallpapers work for me.
Yes, it's much better for me. Animated, or even reactive wallpapers, have stepped up my desktop personalization so much, I don't really care to go back to boring still images.
All I can think to this kind of thing is: if you're spending so much time staring at the wallpaper, what's the rest of your computer for?
I personally try to leave as little of the wallpaper visible as possible, but I guess I'm the weird one.
I never said I spent a particularly long time "staring" at my wallpaper.
I also don't spend a long time looking at the wallpaper on my phone, but I still like to decide what it looks like and customize/personalize it.
I see my computer desktop at boot up. Before and after starting games, usually. I have two monitors, and the side one is not always filled. For that matter, my main monitor is 4k but I don't ever have one single thing full screen, so usually have windows staggered or tiled and bits of desktop are often poking through.
I can't stand application clutter on my second monitor. So the only thing I keep open is a tiny window for discord but half the screen stays uncovered. Keeping app windows small reduces distraction for me if there's some sort of pop up. I'm not staring at it, but it's always in my peripheral vision.
I have an animated 80s-PC-vibe sirenhead wall paper with a music bar visualizer and working clock I've had since 2021 and I love it too much to ever take it off..
I haven't touched it since, so I don't know what's going on currently
Pretty animated wallpaper.
Why do people paint their cars? They could just drive a black or white one.
Why not stop with this new fangled electric car thing. Gas powered like in the good olden days were perfectly sufficient.
/s obviously