And, according to my peepers, Windows has never had a better aesthetic combination than the blue taskbar, green Start button, and gentle rolling hills of the Windows XP default wallpaper.

Windows XP shipped with a version measuring just 800 by 600 pixels. Anywho, Inside History has a series of follow up images taken from the same vantage point in 2006, 2020, 2024 and 2025.

And if you miss out, the good news is that you can download a high-quality version of the Windows XP desktop wallpaper for desktop and mobile (unfortunately, though, the resolution tops out at 1080p).

The 73-year-old photog is the man behind the tranquil image of a rolling hill and bright blue sky that served as the default background for Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system.