Similarly, the factory-default background image is the first thing you see when you get a new computer or install a new operating system. First impressions are everything, so it’s not surprising that one single image can be the driving force behind how a new OS is perceived.

Since Windows 7 launches in less than 2 days, I thought it might be nice to reflect on the default backgrounds Microsoft used on each version of Windows.

Windows 95/98 – Clouds

Windows 95 was (I believe) the first Microsoft OS to include a default background image. Keeping with the OS’s Windows-logo-in-the-sky marketing imagery, the image displayed simple white clouds on a blue background. Windows 98 kept the clouds when it released.

Windows 2000 – Clouds, Boxes, Skydiving

Windows 2000 was an all-business OS, directed more at corporations than home users. Microsoft dialed back the clouds into a more muted blue background and included a couple of transparent gradient boxes and the Windows logo. The silhouette of a trapeze artist makes you think the graphics team had a wall of motivational posters in their conference room.

Windows Me – No More Clouds

Windows Me (Millennium Edition) was marketed as the consumer-level counterpart to Windows 2000. Its default background image reinforced this, and borrowed Win2k’s colors, gradient boxes, and Windows logo, but ditched the clouds, the trapeze artist, and any chance of being considered a successful product.

Windows XP – Bliss

Probably one of the most-recognized photos in the world now, Windows XP’s default background was an image of a rolling green hill, deep blue skies, and puffy white clouds. Captured by Charles O’Rear, the photo was taken in California’s Sonoma Valley region in 1996, and was the basis for Microsoft’s XP marketing push. This photo was the first step in a new direction for Windows, as Microsoft abandoned the angular gunmetal-gray toolbars and buttons of previous versions, concentrating instead on a rounded, colorful, and friendlier user interface.

Windows Vista – Aerotic

Five years after Windows XP, Microsoft released Windows Vista in 2007. Vista’s selling point was a prettier, shinier, translucent interface from the distant future, and its default desktop image was no exception. Composed of abstract line art twisting over rays of light, the image made it clear that Vista was not simply a rehash of XP, which may not have been such a good thing.

Windows 7 – Back to Nature

Many say that Windows 7 is what Vista should have been—a worthy successor to XP. Looking at 7’s default desktop image, you might think that Microsoft agrees. The image is more abstract than XP’s Bliss, but the use of imagery may be a throwback to it. Each of the 4 sections of the Windows logo is packed full of nature: a tree, a butterfly, a bird, and blades of grass. Wisps of wind curl around the logo, and a single blade of grass reaches in from the bottom left. The entire image is glossed over with generous amounts of lens flare. It’s not a far reach to see this new scene right at home on top of that green California hill.

Looking Back

You can quickly see how the Windows brand has developed over the years just by looking at each version’s default desktop background. Microsoft started with clouds, moved on to landscapes, experimented with abstract imagery, and has more recently moved back to nature.

If you look at how Apple’s desktop images have progressed, you’ll see a different, shorter path. OS X started with the abstract and later moved into space. MS seems to be pushing Windows as the OS for everyone on Earth, while portraying Macs as the platform of choice for billionaire astronauts.

So does a background image really matter that much? Probably not. Most people change theirs as soon as they boot up for the first time. It’s really an issue of branding, just like your cell phone’s default ringtone. And just like ringtones, there will always be users who never change their desktop image. So I’m glad that Windows seems to be taking the time to give us some well-crafted defaults. I hate the Nokia theme song.