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Review: Screen Swift 3.0

Tenmiles Corporation have just released the latest version of their Flash Screensaver creation tool.

What does it do? Create Screensavers from your .SWF files
Platforms: Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP
Manufacturer: Tenmiles Corporation
Website: http://www.tenmiles.com
Price: $49.95 (single), $99.95 (site), free upgrade, free non-commercial

Flash screensaver creation tools have been around for quite a while now. You only have to look at all the tools listed in our screensaver section to see how crowded the market has become. On top of that it's getting quite hard to think of any new features you'd want to add to them; or any that you'd actually use anyway.

Screen Swift has been around for a couple of years and is now on version 3. The main reason for this release is to offer support for the recently released Flash MX 2004. Tenmiles can be pleased with themselves for being the first screensaver creation tool to offer support for the new format. If you're an existing user then your upgrade will be free and as with previous versions there is a free to use non-commericial version available.

As Flash development moves towards an RIA architecture we're finding more and more assets are externalised. The other big feature of this release is the ability to bundle additional resource files (like external swf, xml or mp3 files) into the final package.

If you do wish to customise your installer then you have complete control over the graphics, licence agreements and timeouts. Another feature added at user request (by Verizon and IBM no less) is silent installation. This will install your screensaver without any of the usual alert boxes and installer interface.

Some of the other new features however, seem rather less than inspiring. The ability to Open a Screen Swift project by clicking on a screensaver project file (*.ssp) makes you wonder why it wasn't there in the first place. And the addition of coloured titling seems (From a Flash developer perspective) a bit redundant when you consider that you could add a better title yourself in Flash. In Tenmiles defence though I'm told this feature was requested by existing users.

The interface is simple to use but I have to say it's beginning to look a little dull. Most of the competitors in this market have tried to funk up their graphics (in lieu of new features to add) but Screen Swift hasn't really changed at all.

In the end all these tools make screensavers and the bulk of the funky stuff will be done in Flash. As Screen Swift is the first to support Flash MX 2004 they have a lead on their competitors.
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