One of the things that I didn't like about upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 is that I had to reconfigure a lot of the customizing that I'd done. I decided to consider the upgrade to Windows 7 as a fresh start, so I went out in search of new desktop backgrounds, cool Windows 7 gadgets, and of course sci-fi or high-tech screensavers that are not only great eye-candy, but somewhat functional.

Due to those search efforts, I came across a few awesome screensavers that I have to share. I like screensavers that really drop the jaw of anyone that might be walking by when its active. Simulations, high definition 3D graphics and lots of useful information are all requirements that I look for when I want to find a cool screensaver.

5 Awesome High Tech Screensavers

If you read Shannon's review of some cool ways to update Twitter, then you will know about Twittearth. Well, since she covered it, the name of the application changed to GeocodEarth and redesigned to cover much more than just Tweets. The service is now built upon Geo RSS posts from around the world. These include Flickr images, Tweets, and much more. But the coolest part of the service is that it's now also a screensaver that looks awesome, and it's functional.

awesome screensavers

You can rotate the planet, click on specific types of updates, or just hover your mouse over the icon on the globe and see a snippet of the update. It's one of the coolest visualizations of Geo RSS updates yet.

The next cool looking screensaver that I came across was actually one provided by the National Science Foundation which displays stunning images of supercomputer-generated advanced computer simulations. These are scientific models of various phenomenon or scientific questions which took a lot of computer power and a long time to generate.

free screensavers

Further in my search for screensavers that have that cool sci-fi appeal, I came across an interesting UK site that offers a whole library of screensavers. While the setup process asks for contact information, it appears that at least the two screensavers listed below are available for free. My favorite by far is Mechanical Clock 3D.

You can set it up to use whatever graphics quality you want, as well as a number of other factors. I highly recommend cutting the sound back to 50 percent, as the ticking of this mechanical clock can get pretty annoying if it's too loud.

free screensavers online

Once you enable this screensaver, I'm confident you'll like it as much as I did. In fact, this is now my screensaver of choice at the moment. When its running, you can see all internal moving parts of the "mechanical clock" as well as the ticking second hand and a clock strike every hour (unless you disable it).

free screensavers online

Another amazing screensaver from this same website is called Earth 3D. According to the description, the screensaver provides a window to what the astronauts see and experience when they orbit the earth in the space shuttle. The view is of earth, exactly how astronauts would see it.

free screensavers online

You can either allow the screensaver to play music in the background and orbit freely, you can use your mouse to take control of the flow and turn the orbit in whatever direction you like so that you can get a good view of everything.

The final screensaver that I wanted to mention is actually one that was covered earlier by Varun.  It is also mentioned throughout the web by numerous writers - and for very good reason. This is by far the best screensaver I've ever seen. The planet rotates in an intuitive way that goes along with the latest blog posts from around the world (that are part of the Twingly network).

awesome screensavers

I love the look and feel of this awesome screensaver - it's like sitting in one of those cool military command posts that you see in the movies, where there are always big screens constantly updated with new data, charts and moving images. With this screensaver, you can feel as though you're keeping a close eye on the pulse of the web as titles and information flow across your screen.

Have you ever tried any of these screensavers? If so, what did you think of them? Do you know any other cool, high-tech screensavers? Share your insight in the comments section below.