Featured Image Credit: Charles O'Rear/Microsoft
Topics: Microsoft, Community, Viral, Environment, Technology
Brenna Cooper
Topics: Microsoft, Community, Viral, Environment, Technology
It's the image which all of us - unless you were born within the last 10 years - will have grown up looking at every time we logged on to the family computer.
But have you ever stopped and wondered about the story behind the famous rolling, green hills sat in-front of a crisp blue sky?
We are, of course, talking about the image 'Bliss' snapped by Chuck O'Rear by 1996, which has since gone on become arguably the most viewed image of all time.
After Microsoft obtained the rights to the image at the turn of the millennium, Bliss - then titled 'Bucolic Green Hills' - would become the default screensaver of every computer which used Windows XP after it was introduced in 2001.
Advert
Take a look at the very image below and reminisce about simpler times when you riddled the your parents' PC with viruses playing Flash Games and downloading music from dodgy sites.
If you'd ever spent your afternoons wondering if this hill was a real place you could run up and down while waiting for the computer to finish booting up, then you'll be relieved to know it is in-fact a real place.
The hill can be found near the Napa–Sonoma county line in California, but expect to be a little disappointed if you ever visit.
Images taken at the location over the years have revealed the bright green hill exists only in our imaginations (and computer screens) with more recent photographs showing a very different environment.
Advert
One image, taken in 2006, showed the landscape looking significantly dryer and less inviting, while more recent reports state the location is now a vineyard.
The comparison images have been shared numerous times over the years and every time receiving the same disappointed reaction from viewers discovering a key part of their childhood is no more.
"So it’s ruined. Nice," commented one person underneath a post made by insidehistory on Instagram.
"I used to stare at this for minutes and would wish I was there… it’s sad now," a second person added.
Advert
Others had a more measured reaction, with a third commenter saying the location still looked 'breathtaking' if you visited in person, while another noted the image was taken in November, so the landscape would understandably appear duller.
"Everybody’s reacting like it’s a grey brick apartment building there now," a fifth user joked.
The image was officially retied in April 2014, when Microsoft ended support for the operating system.
O'Rear has since reflected on taking the iconic image explaining how his chosen camera and decision to use 'a film that had more brilliant colours' allowed the image to be created.
Advert
"The size of the camera and film together made the difference and I think helped the Bliss photograph stand out even more. I think if I had shot it with 35 millimetre, it would not have nearly the same effect." he said.