Windows XP classic wallpaper: from your PC to a real-life trip up Memory Hills
The Windows XP wallpaper is one of the most iconic images in popular culture. “Bliss”, the image created by Charles O’Rear in 1998, has been on every Windows PC desktop screen, for almost two decades.
What some may not know about this image, is that it is actually a real location, in Sonoma County, California.
While the original photograph may appear to be a lot less saturated and processed than the one we have seen on every desktop until a few years ago, the hills are in fact faithful to reality, and were photographed by O’Rear himself, on his way to meeting his future wife, during a brief stop roadside: “I got out, took a couple of pictures, and kept on going, and the rest is history.” O’Rear recants.
The image was initially uploaded to Corbis, a stock image service similar to Shutterstock and iStock Photos, with “Bliss” as the title.
Incidentally, Bill Gates was owner of the stock photography service, and was forwarded the image by an unidentified person, most likely an employee.
The hills still coast a stretch of the 12 Highway that cross much of the beautiful wine country connecting Napa and Sonoma.
In a video documentary published on YouTube by Microsoft, O’Rear talks about the inspiration behind the photograph, and how it came to be. Needless to say it wasn’t easy. O’Rear explained how the road by those hills, is still one of the most dangerous in California, because the speed limit is fast, and drivers are usually in a hurry. There is also no shoulder available to park on the side of the road. O’Rear had to drive past, at first, then turn around and find a safe spot to park, just long enough to set up his tripod, and take four shots of the hill.
O’Rear did his research, as he often drove that road to visit his girlfriend, and knew that those particular hills turn to a beautiful shade of green after the rain, at certain times during the day.
For those who reside in Northern California, and would like to see the very hill that for almost 20 years has appeared on computer screens worldwide, here is the exact location from Google Maps:
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