Is there a falling code screensaver like the Matrix?

Code Rain gives you exactly that look. Part of the classic pack in Screensavers by Zaweba, it fills the screen with columns of characters that fall and fade. You choose their colour, the characters used, the speed and the character size, so it can be the familiar green glow or something entirely your own. It's original code, free software under the EULA, and runs offline.

The falling code look is one of the most copied screen effects there is. What makes this version pleasant to live with is that it's tunable, so you can make it busy and dramatic for a shop window or slow and quiet for a desk you sit at all day.

The character sets

The characters setting is where Code Rain gets interesting. You can pick letters and digits, digits only, binary, hexadecimal, katakana, maths symbols or Greek letters. Each gives the rain a different texture. Binary is sparse and rhythmic, almost like a pattern on fabric. Hexadecimal looks like a memory dump. Katakana gives the classic film feel. Maths symbols and Greek letters look striking on a physics or maths classroom screen.

Colour is separate, so binary in amber or Greek letters in pale blue are both a couple of clicks away.

One small point about comfort: on a screen in a dark room, a softer colour such as a dim green or grey is kinder to the eyes than full white.

Speed and size

Speed runs from 1 to 10. At the low end the columns drift down slowly and you can read individual characters, which suits a calm office. At the top end it pours. Character size also runs from 1 to 10. Small characters give dense, fine rain that looks good on a large monitor; big ones read from across a room and suit a television or a second screen on a shelf.

Try changing one setting at a time and watching the live preview in the manager, which follows each change as you make it. It's quicker than guessing, and the right combination is often a surprise. A larger size with a slower speed, for instance, can look more deliberate than the defaults.

Trying it full screen

A preview in a panel doesn't show you how it feels across the whole display. Press Preview full screen to see it properly. Move the mouse more than a few pixels, press a key or click to close it. When you've found your settings, press Use this screensaver: it's built into your profile without administrator rights, and Windows' Screen Saver Settings opens for you to select it and set the wait time.

Sharing it with other screensavers

Code Rain doesn't have to be the only one. Tick it along with others, Starfield warp and Aurora say, and use Install several. You get one screensaver file that picks one of them at random each time the screen goes idle. If you change your mind about a setting later, change it in the manager: settings are read when the screensaver starts, so there's nothing to rebuild.

If you run more than one monitor, Code Rain can run on each monitor, stretch across them all, or stay on the main monitor with the others black. Stretched across three screens at a small size it looks wonderful.

And if you ever get carried away with the settings, Reset to defaults puts everything back where it started, so experimenting costs nothing. Make the screen yours, and if it gets old, try a different character set for a week.