The 'grassland' wallpaper on Windows XP is not CG, but a real landscape that actually exists in the real world.

The wallpapers included with Windows Vista were taken by amateur photographers, but the Windows XP desktop background, which may be thought to be CG, is also a real place. This photo, one of the most famous photos in the world, with its simple composition yet beautiful, became the desktop background for Windows XP as follows.

Microsoft XP background: How a California view became the planet's most viewed vista | Mail Online
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060695/Microsoft-XP-background-How-California-view-planets-viewed-vista.html

When asked, 'What is a famous photograph?' you probably wouldn't think of a computer desktop, but many people have surely seen this photograph used in Windows XP.

This photo is not a CG image, but was taken by O'Rear after he was struck by a vineyard he passed by while driving to visit his girlfriend. No matter how beautiful the scenery, it's a road that cars pass by. Most people just pass by, but photographer O'Rear was so struck by the beauty of the colors that he stopped his car and took out his camera.

The photo was chosen by Microsoft engineers as the desktop background for Windows XP, where it remains to this day. Due to confidentiality agreements, the amount paid has not been disclosed, but it is said to be the second most expensive photo ever licensed.

'In 2002 or 2003, I was driving from Napa to San Francisco a couple of times a week, and the grass was so green in January that I'd jump out of the car, take a picture, and then keep going,' O'Rear says.

He went to pick up his girlfriend Daphne Larkin, whom he later married, and promptly forgot about the photo. He realized the photo was a big hit when he got a call from his agent, the Corbis photo archive, telling him that Microsoft wanted the original. 'I never thought this would happen when I took the photo. It's probably the most seen photo in the world. If you take it to a village in Bangladesh or stop someone on the street in China, people will know what it is,' he added. O'Rear began his career at the Kansas City Star and the Los Angeles Times, worked for National Geographic for 25 years, and now, at age 69, he is devoted to photography and winemaking in Napa and around the world. By the way, O'Rear is a Mac user, so he doesn't see the photo that is used in Windows XP.

Windows tends to pay special attention to small details like this. For example, the startup sound for Windows 95 was composed by Brian Eno , a pioneer of ambient music.

Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Sound - YouTube


Also, the startup sound for Windows Vista and Windows 7 is a song by Robert Fripp , guitarist and leader of King Crimson.

Microsoft Windows Vista Startup Sound - YouTube


Also, the strange and confusing icon in the JPEG image is inspired by a scene from Evangelion.

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