See how the iconic Windows XP Bliss wallpaper location has changed over the years

Take a look at how the location where the famous Windows XP wallpaper, Bliss, has changed over the years.

Windows XP's default wallpaper, known as Bliss, is perhaps one of the most famous photographs in history. If you owned a computer in the 2000s, this photograph is basically synonymous with that entire period.

The photo was taken by photographer Charles O’Rear in January 1996, while he was driving along Highway 121 in Sonoma County, California. A storm had just passed, leaving the grass unusually green and the sky dotted with clouds, and O'Rear pulled over to shoot the scene with a medium-format Mamiya RZ67 camera.

O'Rear shot the photo on Fujifilm Velvia film, known for producing especially saturated tones, and the image reached Microsoft essentially untouched. Microsoft eventually bought the rights to the photo through Corbis and renamed it Bliss, making it the default desktop background for Windows XP starting in 2001.

We all know what the finished product looks like. But it’s been exactly 30 years since the photo was taken, and its location has naturally changed. So I went to Google Earth to see how the famous hill in Sonoma County, California looked through the years. You can see for yourself below:

Bliss location (Images: Google Earth)

The hill in Sonoma County, where Bliss was taken in 2007, 2009, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2022, and 2025 respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part of why the hill looked so striking in the original photo comes down to timing. The vineyards that now cover the slope had actually been removed years earlier due to a phylloxera infestation. That's why the hills are covered in grass instead of grapevines. That's what gave the photo its dreamlike quality.

The vineyards were eventually replanted, removed, and replanted again, so Bliss looked different every year for the past 30 years.

Let us know in the comments about a particular memory that comes to your mind when you think of Bliss.

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Posted Thursday 16 July 2026 at 12:36 pm AEST (my time).

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