The location of one of the most recognizable photographs in the world has been found.
Windows XP’s iconic “Bliss” wallpaper, featuring a green hill overlooking a sunny blue sky, was a staple of office and computer room decor in the 2000s. It was the default wallpaper for PCs running Windows XP during its run from 2001 to 2007.
While many instinctively thought it was fake—almost too serene to get out of our chaotic world—it’s actually just outside of Sonoma, north of San Francisco, California.
The photo, which has been viewed by more than 1 billion people, was taken on a Friday afternoon in January 1996 by photographer Charles O’Rear, who saw the photo while driving to meet his then-girlfriend. He said the photo was never edited, but sold to Microsoft as such.
Since then, however, the photo has popped up “everywhere,” including people’s homes, offices, and even the White House and the Kremlin.
Pictured above is the hill in Sonoma, California, as imaged by Microsoft in 2001 (photo taken in 1996) and shown again today. The photographer says the photo was never edited and was taken with a traditional camera
The hill was photographed in 1996. Photographer Charles O’Rear says he saw the view when he drove up to his girlfriend and jumped out of the car to take the photo. He can’t remember if clouds were present before he took the picture
Pictured above is the hill today. It shows that a vineyard has now been placed in front of it and some trees have grown up behind it, making it difficult to recreate the view
The hill is located just off the Carneros Highway outside of Sonoma, California. This is one of the most dangerous roads in the area
Mr. O’Rear explained where the statue was brought to Lee almost 23 years after the software was released.
Windows XP was used by hundreds of millions of people when it first came out and received critical acclaim for its ease of use.
It was eventually replaced by other systems such as Windows Vista and Windows Server in 2008, as well as the arrival of the Apple Mac Book in 2006.
But in 2014, when Microsoft finally stopped supporting the system, some 300 million computers would still be running Windows XP.
Today, about 0.1 percent of all computers worldwide still use the system. Famous figures who still use it include Vladimir Putin, according to reports.
Mr O’Rear, who still lives in the Napa Valley near the iconic hill, revealed how he took the photo.
He said“There’s a time of year here north of San Francisco when the grass turns green after rain and I know the chances of finding these beautiful hills are very high.”
“Every Friday afternoon I went to visit my girlfriend near San Francisco.
“On this particular day in January, as I was driving down this winding little road — what I call a country lane — it was right there.
‘[I thought] my god, the grass is perfect, it’s green, the sun is shining, there are some clouds.
“It couldn’t have been cloud cover and by the time I parked, by the time I set up my camera, the clouds might have come in because everything was changing so quickly at that point.
“So now I get the camera ready and here come the clouds and I make one frame, and I go to the next one – which we don’t do digitally anymore – and it takes care of everything.”
Mr O’Rear said he took four photos of the hill that day, which were later purchased by Microsoft.
Pricing was not disclosed, but they were so expensive that none of the usual courier services, such as FedEx, would carry them.
In the end, Mr. O’Rear had to be flown to the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to personally deliver them.
The photo was taken on a Mamiya RZ67 camera with Fuji color film and a tripod.
Charles O’Rear said Microsoft paid so much for the photo that he had to travel to their headquarters to deliver the photo in person
Pictured above is the Carneros Highway near where the hill is located
Despite claims that the image has been altered, Mr O’Rear said it had not, but used Fuji film which can help improve the colours.
Speaking of the impact the image has had, he said: ‘I had no idea where it was going. I suspect that the engineers or anyone involved in building Windows XP had no idea it would have the success it did.
“It’s everywhere, as we all know, we see it in so many places.
“I saw it in the situation room at the White House, maybe a news photo too. I’ve seen it in shots in the Kremlin where they would do interviews.
“Anyone from the age of 15 will remember this photo for the rest of their lives.”
The hill is now plowed up and a vineyard is now built across the front of the bulkhead. Trees have also grown behind the hill.