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Windows 95 Screensaver Emulator

A working 1995 desktop · 640×480 · 16 / 256 colours · move the mouse to stop, just like the real thing

Choose your screensaver

My Computer

Recycle Bin

Display

MS-DOS Prompt

Readme.txt

12:00 PM

VGA · 640×480 · 60 Hz

Guide — run the 1995 screensavers again

A working Windows 95-style desktop in your browser. No download, no install.

1Pick a screensaver

Mystify Your Mind, Flying Through Space, Flying Windows, Curves and Colors, Scrolling Marquee or Blank Screen — plus the OpenGL 3D savers.

2Open Settings…

The original setup dialogs are recreated: polygons and lines for Mystify, warp speed for the starfield, text and colours for the marquee.

3Press Preview

It runs full screen and stops the moment you move the mouse or press a key, just like in 1995.

4Use Fullscreen for a TV

Fullscreen keeps running until you press Esc or click. Choose 4:3 with black bars or fill a wide screen.

5Play with the desktop

Display Properties has 16 or 256 colours, desktop area, colour schemes, the Wait timer and password protection.

What each part does

CLASSICThe 1995 originals

2D: Mystify, starfield, marquee, curves
look: 640×480, hard pixel edges

3DThe OpenGL savers

pipes: elbow or ball joints, then a dissolve
maze: brick walls, rat, flip-over rocks

DESKTOPDisplay Properties

colours: 16 or 256 with period dithering
schemes: Brick, Eggplant, Rainy Day…

SCREENPreview vs Fullscreen

Preview: stops when you touch the mouse
Fullscreen: runs until Esc or a click

▸ What shipped with Windows 95

Windows 95 (August 1995) installed six screen savers: Blank Screen, Curves and Colors, Flying Through Space, Flying Windows, Mystify Your Mind and Scrolling Marquee. Several were renamed Windows 3.1 classics — "Starfield Simulation" became Flying Through Space, "Mystify" became Mystify Your Mind, "Marquee" became Scrolling Marquee. The OpenGL trio — 3D Pipes, 3D Maze and 3D Text — began life on Windows NT and became part of the Windows 95/98 family later on. All of them are here, rendered the way a 1995 PC drew them.

Why does it look so pixelated?

On purpose. Everything renders at a real 1995 desktop resolution (640×480 by default) and is scaled up with hard pixel edges — no anti-aliasing, 1-pixel Bresenham lines, stars as square pixels. Open Display Properties → Settings to switch to 256 or 16 colours and the 3D savers get the ordered dithering you remember from VGA cards.

Mystify Your Mind

Two four-cornered polygons bounce off the screen edges, each followed by a trail of echo lines. Its setup dialog is recreated: pick Polygon 1 or 2, switch it on or off, set the number of lines, and choose "Two colors" or "Multiple random colors".

Flying Through Space & Flying Windows

The same engine: objects stream out of a vanishing point and grow as they approach. Stars are single grey pixels that brighten into 2×2 and 3×3 white squares. Both have the original Warp speed slider and a density setting. Flying Windows here uses little program windows as its flying objects rather than the Microsoft logo.

Scrolling Marquee & Curves and Colors

Marquee has its original options: Centered or Random position, speed, background colour from the 16-colour VGA palette, and text formatting. Curves and Colors draws Bézier loops with echo trails, with the Length, Width and Speed controls from its setup box.

3D Pipes, 3D Maze & 3D Text

Real 3D (WebGL): pipes grow through a 3D grid with elbow or ball joints, then the screen dissolves away block by block and starts over. The maze has brick walls, a wooden floor and a speckled ceiling tile, a rat running loose, grey rocks that flip you upside down (and switch you from right-hand to left-hand wall following), and a translucent smiley face at the exit. 3D Text spins, see-saws or wobbles any text you type.

▸ Try these on the desktop

· Double-click Display or use Start → Settings → Display Properties.
· Settings tab: change Desktop area — you get 15 seconds to confirm, just like Windows did.
· Appearance tab: try the Brick, Eggplant, Rainy Day or High Contrast Black schemes.
· Leave the page untouched for the Wait time and the screen saver kicks in on its own. Tick Password protected for the full office experience.
· Open MS-DOS Prompt and type dir, ver or the name of a screen saver.
· Start → Shut Down... for a familiar orange message.

▸ Fun facts about Windows 95

When did Windows 95 actually launch?

August 24, 1995 — with midnight launch events, queues outside computer stores, and a marketing campaign built around The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up," chosen because it was the first Windows to have a Start button.

What made Windows 95 such a big deal at the time?

It introduced the Start menu and taskbar, supported long file names instead of the old 8.3 format, and made Plug and Play a mainstream reality — all firsts for a consumer Windows release.

Could you actually lock your PC with a screensaver?

Yes — the Screen Saver tab had a genuine "Password protected" checkbox, turning these animations into an early, low-tech screen lock long before Windows had a dedicated lock screen.

Why were screensavers needed at all?

CRT monitors could suffer phosphor burn-in: a static image left on screen for hours would leave a permanent ghost. Keeping the picture moving (or black) prevented it. Modern LCD and OLED panels barely have that problem, so today screensavers survive as nostalgia and ambience.

▸ Running it today

On a second monitor or TV

Use the Fullscreen button: it stays running until you press Escape or click, so it's fine on a second monitor, TV or kiosk. The Preview button behaves like 1995 instead and stops as soon as the mouse moves. Choose 4:3 (authentic, with black bars) or Fill wide screen.

On phones and tablets

The desktop scales to fit, tapping an icon opens it, and fullscreen works on mobile browsers that support it.

The Wait timer and password

If you leave the page alone for the Wait time set on the Screen Saver tab, the screensaver starts on its own. With Password protected ticked it asks for the password you set with Change... before returning to the desktop. The password is only kept in memory until you reload the page.

Matrix Rain is a bonus

No — it's a bonus. The falling-code look comes from The Matrix (1999). It sits at the bottom of the list, marked as a bonus.

▸ Disclaimer

This is an independent fan recreation and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Microsoft Corporation or any of its affiliates. No original Microsoft code, images or logos are used — everything is redrawn from scratch in the browser. Product names are used for identification only.

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