Like Windows XP itself, Microsoft's 'Bliss' image of rolling green hills has aged, and evolved. Here's its story— and what the real-world site looks like today.

Charles O'Rear is the photographer behind Bliss, the Windows XP image that went on to grace millions of desktops around the world. He discusses the iconic photo and how it will live on as XP fades ...

For people who can't get enough of Bliss or other '90s- and 2000s-era Microsoft stuff, the company has also released a few retro-themed high-resolution wallpapers on its Microsoft Design site.

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.

The latest ugly holiday sweater from Microsoft features the Windows XP “Bliss” desktop image. (Microsoft Photo) The hills are alive on this year’s ugly holiday sweater from Microsoft.

The famous Windows XP wallpaper, "Bliss," captured in 1996, looks drastically different today—here’s how the iconic landscape has changed over time. advertisement. Zee News.

The photo you see above -- the default wallpaper for Windows XP -- is probably the most recognizable image in the world. What you probably didn't know is that it's a real photo, called Bliss ...

Microsoft finally killed off support for Windows XP this week, but the company decided to wax nostalgic about one of the most memorable parts of the operating system—that serene, hilly landscape ...

Yes, “Bliss” is a real photo. O’Rear, who is sometimes known as Chuck, took it using a Mamiya RZ67 camera with color Fuji Film and a tripod in Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, in 1996.

Bliss is the default computer desktop image when Microsoft's Windows XP operating system is launched. The photo, taken by Charles O'Rear, is of a highway in Napa Valley after a storm cleared.

"Bliss" hill, located in Sonoma, Calif. off Hwy 12, is the subject of one of the world's most viewed photos: Windows XP's default desktop wallpaper. Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE ...