Windows XP Wallpaper

Om

The story behind the Windows XP Wallpaper is a simple one. In January 1998, National Geographic photographer Charles O’Rear was on his way to San Francisco to see his girlfriend when the passing scenery caught his eye. So of course he pulled over and snapped the scene with his trusty medium format camera and Fujifilm Velvia film. Without any touch ups, he uploaded the scene to Corbis, a stock photo site founded by Bill Gates. In 2000, Microsoft contacted O’Rear to ask if they could use the picture for their operating system. Since then it’s since graced over a billion computers around the world as the default background on Windows XP. Now photographers flock to the post to get their own version of the iconic image. And even if you’re not a shutterbug, it’s still a quirky sight to see in the flesh.