3.3 Setting Up a Screen Saver

     OS X comes with several screen-saver modules, and many more are available for free (search for OS X Screen Saver). To set up your screen saver, follow these steps:

1. Open System Preferences, click the Desktop & Screen Saver icon, and then click the Screen Saver tab to see the options shown in Figure 3-5.

2. In the Screen Savers column on the left side of the pane, choose a screen saver that interests you.
     Scroll down to see all the available Slideshows and Screen Savers.
     If you can’t decide, scroll to the bottom of the screen savers list and choose Random to have your Mac choose a different screen saver at random each time the screen saver kicks in.
3. (Optional) To see what the chosen module looks like in action, click the large Preview image on the right.
     A little Preview button appears on the image when you hover your cursor over it to remind you how to see a preview. Nice touch!
     Press any key or click anywhere to end the test.
4. After you’ve chosen a screen saver, select the number of minutes you want the Mac to wait before activating the screen saver from the Start After pop-up menu.
5. Choose the Show with Clock check box to display a digital clock along with the screen saver.
6. (Optional) Click the Hot Corners button to choose which corner of your screen activates the screen saver and which disables it.
     If you enable this option, when you move your cursor to the chosen corner of the screen, you activate or disable the screen saver until you move the cursor elsewhere. Note that hot corners are optional and are turned off by default.
7. When you’re done, close the Desktop & Screen Saver pane.

     You can require a password to wake your Mac from sleep or a screen saver. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open System Preferences, click the Security and Privacy icon, and then click the General tab at the top of the System Preferences window.
2. Choose the Require Password after Sleep or Screen Saver Begins check box.
3. Choose a length of time from the pop-up menu between the words Password and After, which contains options such as Immediately, 15 minutes, and 4 hours.
     From now on, you must supply the user account password to wake up your computer. (I discuss user accounts and passwords in Chapter 16 and the Appendix. Download the Appendix from www.dummies.com/downloads/osxmavericks.)