Some of us sometimes use a picture as wallpaper in Windows. Since more or less anything can go as wallpaper there is no end to it. And finding photos on the net is not a problem.
Below is a short list of some nice wallpaper collections that I have found during the years. Some of them already have a connection to Microsoft’s Windows in some way; either as MSFT distributed or as “discarded” pictures in the development of the RTM package.
As we all know complete themes came with Windows 95 (I still have copy of Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95). With Windows XP and especially Windows Vista Microsoft added some nice wallpapers. This will no doubt be taken further in upcoming Windows 7. As many have seen it will be possible to create, pack and exchange themes with different content as well as using wallpaper Slide Shows. So looking at Windows 7 Beta images can also be applicable if looking for a nice image; though the themes will of course only work in that version. joeperez mentioned in his post 753,003 a link to some backgrounds and themes on a page that those running the Windows 7 beta may have found.
In January 2007 Long Zheng did a blog post about Desktop wallpapers in Vista and the evaluation process at Microsoft. He also mentions Hamad Darwish who did some of the pictures that went into Vista, see his homepage below. So, some of this is some years old, but no recent thread on the topic here.
So, without further ado, a small list of great new image collections:
A nice page from the Microsoft New Zealand team: New Zealand Bliss Vistas and other Desktop Backgrounds & Wallpaper
Hamad Darwish’s homepage. It also has a link to his photostream at flickr. You can download the excluded photos from the Windows Vista photoshoot at his homepage.
A Microsoft consultant who has created many nice wallpaper images. Mike Swanson’s Blog: Wallpaper Images.
At the moment, I like for example this one, by Hamad Darwish, from Oregon, but there are many great photos out there!
For those interested in photography, here is a nice site, the English photographer John Beardsworth.
