If you used a computer anytime between 2001 and 2014, this image is burned into your memory. A lush green hill gently rolling under a bright blue sky with scattered fluffy white clouds. It was the default wallpaper on Windows XP, and for millions of people around the world, it was the very first thing they saw when they turned on their new PC.

For years, everyone assumed it was too perfect to be real. People thought it must be a digital creation, carefully crafted in Photoshop or some early 3D software.

The truth is much better. It is a completely real photograph, taken on film in a real place on an ordinary day. And the story behind it is one of the most charming tales in tech history.

Who Took the Famous Windows XP Bliss Photo?

The photographer is Charles O'Rear, better known as Chuck. He spent 25 years shooting for National Geographic, capturing some of the world's most beautiful places. In January 1996, he was simply driving from his home in Napa Valley, California, to visit his girlfriend (who later became his wife). He was not on any assignment. He was just enjoying a pleasant drive through wine country.

He always carried his Mamiya RZ67 medium-format camera in the car. It is a professional film camera that produces incredibly detailed and colorful images.

The Perfect Day in Sonoma County

As Chuck drove along Highway 121 in Sonoma County, something caught his eye. The winter rains had just ended, turning the hills a vivid, almost glowing green. A few years earlier, a pest had damaged the grapevines in that area, so farmers had removed them all. That left the hillside completely open and untouched, with no vines or structures in sight. The sky was crystal clear, and the clouds were exactly right.

He pulled over, set up his tripod, and took a few shots on Fuji Velvia film, which is famous for its rich, saturated colors. Then he packed up and continued his drive. At the time, he had no idea he had just captured what would become the most famous photograph in the world.

How Microsoft Chose the Bliss Wallpaper

A few years later, Chuck submitted the image to Corbis, a stock photo agency owned by Bill Gates. In 2000, the Microsoft team was searching for the perfect default wallpaper for their upcoming operating system, Windows XP. They wanted something calm, inviting, and universally appealing.

When they saw Chuck's photo, they knew it was perfect. Microsoft bought the full rights for an undisclosed amount that is still considered one of the highest prices ever paid for a single photograph. The sum was so large that shipping companies refused to insure the original film negative for delivery. Chuck had to fly to Seattle himself to hand-deliver it.

The best part? Microsoft barely touched the image. They only cropped it slightly for the 4:3 screen ratio and made a minor adjustment to the green tones. Everything else, the vibrant hill, the perfect sky, the fluffy clouds, is exactly what the camera captured that afternoon in 1996.

Visit the Bliss Hill Today

The location is still there in Sonoma County, California, along Highway 12/121 near the Domaine Carneros winery. If you visit now, you will see something very different. The hillside is once again covered in neat rows of grapevines. That brief period of open green grass is gone, making the original photo even more special.

Why the Bliss Wallpaper Became So Iconic

The Windows XP Bliss wallpaper is estimated to have been seen by more than a billion people, easily making it the most viewed photograph in human history. It greeted users every time they booted up their computer during the biggest era of personal computing growth.

It represents a simpler time in technology, when the internet was new and exciting, and a peaceful green landscape felt like the perfect welcome to the digital world.

Want to relive that feeling? Step back into Windows XP exactly as it was, complete with the classic Start menu, sounds, and of course, the Bliss wallpaper.

Click here to launch the Reborn XP simulator and experience it for yourself.

The Bliss photo is more than just a background. It is a piece of shared history that instantly brings back memories for an entire generation of computer users.