# Where did Mircrosoft get wallpaper pictures for XP?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 9, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554 "2009-04-09T20:03:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/1 "2009-04-09T20:03:15Z")
Simple Google searches aren’t working for me on this topic. The free desktop wallpapers that came with Win XP include one particular one, a purple stucco house with blue window frames. That one photo just begs me to find out – Where did it come from? Who would willingly paint their house that way? What does the rest of the neighborhood, and the interior, or the surrondings look like? And, if it was a model mock-up, or painted just for the shoot, or an incredibly sophiisticated photo manipulation, well, I’d like to know that answer, conclusively, as well.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/2 "2009-04-09T20:04:50Z")
Probably from a stock photo agency. You can find thousands of photos of interestingly painted old houses in a stock catalog.
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### Author:  [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/3 "2009-04-10T01:01:08Z")
I think they call came from HighTurn. Wiki article on the “bliss” image [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliss_(image))
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/4 "2009-04-10T01:10:39Z")
What version of XP do you have? Mine does not seem to contain that background.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/5 "2009-04-10T01:15:02Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> What version of XP do you have? Mine does not seem to contain that background.
It’s called “Home.” The background image, not the version of XP. I have XP Pro SP2.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/6 "2009-04-10T01:28:41Z")
[Here](http://www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/features/2007/02/autumn200702) is an article from Vanity Fair magazine about another person’s search for the site where the Autumn image was photographed. (It’s in Burlington, Ontario.) You might follow the process he went through to find the source of your image.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/7 "2009-04-10T02:44:51Z")
–deleted, wrong thread–
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### Author:  [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/8 "2009-04-10T03:57:37Z")
I’m not so sure what is so surprising about the colors used for the house - it looks like a typical Santa Fe style adobe house. Bright colors are often used on the trim.
Edited to add: While the XP photo is a Santa Fe style home, bright colors for homes are not uncommon. Check out these in [Collioure](http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5712052), France.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/9 "2009-04-10T05:22:34Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#):
>
> It’s called “Home.” The background image, not the version of XP. I have XP Pro SP2.
Oh OK, I actually do have that one. I didn’t even notice it when skimming through the available backgrounds because I was looking for a “house” and all I saw in that photo was a “wall”. :smack: Plus it’s a pretty plain-looking light purple and based on the OP describing how unusual and fascinating this house seems to be I was expecting something more exotic.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/10 "2009-04-10T16:16:08Z")
By coincidence, one of today’s Google Sightseeing blog posts shows the location for the [Bliss](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bliss.png) image (the default wallpaper from Windows XP) in [Google Street View](http://googlesightseeing.com/2009/04/10/top-10-street-views-april-2009/).
Caution: link also contains (very) low-resolution nudity.
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### Author:  [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/11 "2009-04-17T22:21:27Z")
Thanks guys, I at least have something to go on. Maybe some stock photo company will take credit, at some time, and I’ll hear about it. And I do think it’s an impressive picture. That is, IMHO, a pretty weird shade of purple to paint a house, and the stark blue window frames, and the homey touch of the herbs drying on the ladder rungs. I would do it myself, to a house I owned … if I owned one, and the housing authority/building codes allowed. Which doesn’t seem likely, to me.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/12 "2009-04-17T22:35:53Z")
I’ve created similar images in Photoshop. Depending on the details, it can be very time-consuming.
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### Author:  [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-mircrosoft-get-wallpaper-pictures-for-xp/492554/13 "2009-04-18T18:11:50Z")
Some of them also come from internal submission by employees and are voted on by the development team.