A Brief History of Windows Desktop Backgrounds

The photographer of the famous Windows XP desktop background landscape picture didn't anticipate it becoming one of the most iconic Windows images of all time. This realization inspired me to look back through time at some of the designs that have adorned our screens.

Windows 95

Anytime I see this teal color—with the hexadecimal code #00807F—it reminds me of the Windows 95 desktop background. While this choice of color might seem unpleasant and unimaginative by today's standards, it offers a certain nostalgic vintage appeal that takes me back to the early days of the Windows desktop setup with those clunky PC units and monitors that were deeper than they were wide. Also used in earlier Windows NT versions in 1992 in pre-release builds, the teal color was pretty much the unofficial color of the 1990s. Not much is known about why this shade was chosen, but given that electric pink would have been a little more eye-searing, it seemed a wise choice and made its unforgettable mark on Windows history.

Windows 98

In 1998, Windows launched the blue-sky theme that has been commonplace on our desktop background ever since, introducing white, fluffy clouds to distinguish it from its plainer predecessors. Windows 98 brought us many internet companion programs, such as Outlook Express, Microsoft Chat, and the Personal Web Server, so the blue sky is a nod to the freedom and endlessness offered by online browsing. Personally, I love the retro Windows icon and its representation of the developing technological world in which this desktop background was released.

Windows 2000

If the Windows 98 desktop background didn't scream freedom, the Windows 2000 one certainly did, with the silhouette of a person flying through an even clearer sky with their arms reaching out in front. While similar to the previous background, the inclusion of two overlapping squares in the top-left corner boldly serves as a marker of difference and change, as Microsoft introduced translucent pop-up reminders and windows to allow multitasking and a less-intrusive experience.

Windows XP

The Windows design we saw in XP marked the start of significant user-interface advancements that we've continued to see to this day. With the increased use of drop shadows, the first two-column Start menu layout, and the choice of blue, olive-green, and silver visual styles, Windows XP really was an overhauled desktop experience. The "Bliss" desktop background was another part of this dramatic upgrade, as Microsoft moved from its graphically produced designs to an unedited photograph of Sonoma County's green hills.

Previously known as "Bucolic Green Hills," photographer Charles O'Rear snapped this idyllic picture when traveling to visit his girlfriend. Driving past the scene, he noticed that the field was greener than usual, a characteristic widely attributed to the heavy rainstorm that had just emptied itself onto the apparently never-ending hills. The fact that this field was previously a vineyard but was wiped out due to a phylloxera infection probably added to its strikingly green appearance. Despite being an incidental addition to the Windows desktop gallery, you can still notice the well-known blue-sky-white-cloud backdrop that had formed the basis of the previous designs, so it's no wonder the hierarchy at Microsoft decided it was the ideal next stop on its visual journey.

Windows Vista

Seen by many Windows customers as the most beautiful background to date, Windows Vista's "Aurora" is an attention-grabbing design. Given that Microsoft's headquarters is based in Redmond, Washington, where the Northern Lights are often viewable, it's no surprise that this astronomy-themed desktop background was given the go-ahead by the tech giant's developers. The depiction of moving, wavy lines represents calmness and tranquility. More striking, however, is the clarity of inspiration drawn from the XP "Bliss" background, with the divide between the yellow and the green forming the same shape as the tops of the rolling hills in O'Rear's photograph. This natural progression certainly hasn't gone unnoticed, alongside the aura of tranquility offered by the wavy lines and unintimidating colors.

Windows 7

While the XP design eight years prior was a more explicit representation of the outdoors, the tree and butterfly watermarked into the Windows logo in the Windows 7 background design is a more subtle nod towards the world's increasing interest in nature. Designed by Chuck Anderson and Erik Attkisson, "Harmony" reverted to simplicity and a focus on the Windows branding while re-emphasizing the famous blue-sky depiction in the background.

Windows 8

Not much is known about the Windows 8 background, including why daisies were chosen as the centerpiece. However, the focused flower on the left and the unfocused flower on the right coincide with the launch of the Windows Photos app in the same year, and the repeated emphasis towards nature continues the theme in the previous desktop background. Interestingly, though, this was the last time we saw the blue sky and white clouds that had filled our screens on and off for the past 12 years.

Windows 10

"Hero," designed by GMUNK, saw the return of a live photograph as the desktop background image—albeit heavily layered. The designers began by cutting four squares into black cardboard before cutting the same design into some acrylic and matching them together. Then, light was directed through the design from an off-angle to capture the glints of the acrylic, resulting in the glistening effect we see in the image. In total, over 3,000 pictures were taken and combined at 9k resolution. According to GMUNK, the aim was "not to just tell the story of Windows, but to tell the story of everything behind and traveling through it, of the advances and techniques that keep the brand moving forward into the future"—and that's clear to see in this striking design.

Windows 11

Windows 11 brought a more centrally-aligned theme to its customers, with the taskbar more closely mirroring the MacOS design. Designed by Six N. Five, "Bloom" returns to the subtle environmental hints we've seen over the years in some Windows desktop backgrounds, no less than in its name. The "bold and abstract" design, which depicts a delicately layered rose-type image, points towards Microsoft's modern-day growth, aligning closely with its aim for an "effortless, calm, personal, familiar, complete, and coherent" design principle.

The Future

As of June 2023, Microsoft hasn't yet officially announced Windows 12. However, Microsoft did leak a new interface that the company could be testing for Windows 12. In the Microsoft Ignite keynote on October 12, 2022, Microsoft briefly showed us an image of Microsoft Teams running on a Windows 11 desktop, though it did have a floating taskbar, a floating search box, system icons displayed in the top-right corner, and the weather in the top-left corner. So, even though we aren't certain what the new desktop background image will be, we can quite confidently say that there will be lots of changes to the interface, meaning we could also expect significant changes to the wallpaper design.

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