Personalization → Background is a way to set your background (aka desktop image or wallpaper).
You can change your screensaver at Personalization → Lock screen → Screen saver (or just push the Windows button to bring up search, and then type screen saver).
Windows has gone through several competing versions of control panels and settings, and this latest one is an absolute horror, a mishmash of newer styles and older control panels from the 2000s. It’s slightly less confusing on macOS but not by much.
It will be managed by the Brand/Marketing teams at the companies. They might commission photographers or simply buy existing stock imagery, or maybe consult an external creative agency (which is where I work). But it will be the Brand/Marketing team which chooses the imagery.
Thx for the explanation. I often wonder about why certain products/messages are styled the way they are. Who they are supposed to appeal to? How much thought/study/effort went into selecting THAT message/image? That sort of thing.
So - update on what I see on my work computer (not that any of you care.) When I awoke it today it showed the old xmas image on the c/a/d screen. When I entered my password, it changed to the blue fabric swirl screen. Then, when logged on, I got the Grecian pier (which, BTW, is a horrible background as it makes icons very hard to see.) So the old xmas background is out there SOMEWHERE - I just can’t figure out where and how to get it back once I chose a custom one.
They will have a brand guide which stipulates an approach to imagery, language (aka tone of voice), colours etc which will inform what kind of imagery they might select. They will also have done a lot of work studying their target audiences (their likes and motivations), although, of course, with something like a TV or computer, the audience is pretty mass market. There will have been a lot of thought put into the imagery choice, I can assure you of that.
Not so much a trade secret, simply that without knowing their brand strategy, brand guidelines and audience profile, it’s hard to unpack. If you’re every curious about what a particular brand’s strategy and identity guidelines are, many of them are open source from this website.
Where in Greece? I was in Athens just last spring.
So, I’m torn between wondering about this stuff, and trying to “actively ignore” it.
This morning, when I turned my work PC on, I saw the blue fabric background. After signing in, I saw the pier in Greece. But now, an hour later, I’m seeing hot air balloons - apparently in Malaysia. I suppose it might be part of the “Windows spotlight-dynamic images” setting I chose.
And my background color is changed - I THINK the bottom ribbon used to be light blue. Now it is some hideous piss yellow. And, last week I changed my arrow cursor to make it larger. The default was some disgusting chartreuse which I decided to keep. Today my arrow cursor is white - tho it remains large.
I just find it so confusing that all of these minor things just keep changing all of the time, with no effort/intention on my part. Since it makes no sense to me and seems out of my control, I find myself thinking there is NOTHING about my computer that it is worth trying to understand or personalize. I KNOW that is not a great attitude, but it is the best way I’ve found of dealing with these constant changes.