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FeatherWall, published by Ritvik Dayal, is a featherweight live-wallpaper engine for Windows, currently available in a single release, version 0.1.0. Its purpose is to place any video or image on the Windows desktop as an animated background, with a configurable clock widget layered over the wallpaper. The software runs as a single process built directly on raw Win32, Direct3D 11, and DirectComposition, deliberately avoiding a browser engine, a launcher, and any account requirement. It falls into the desktop customization and live-wallpaper category, serving users who want dynamic desktop backgrounds with minimal system overhead, such as personalizing workstations, displaying ambient video loops, or running lightweight always-on desktop clocks. FeatherWall supports both Windows desktop topologies: the classic WorkerW layout and the raised desktop introduced in Windows 11 24H2 and later. To conserve resources, it automatically pauses playback when a fullscreen application is in front, when the session is locked, when the connection is remote, or when battery saver is enabled. Its efficiency is documented with measured figures: a still wallpaper costs about 151 MB of memory and 0.03 percent CPU on a 2560x1600 display at 150 percent scaling. A built-in gallery supplies curated public domain and CC0 wallpapers sourced from NASA and Wikimedia Commons, which are downloaded directly from the source with no API key and no tracking, allowing users to obtain high-quality imagery without registration or privacy concerns.
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