The story behind the world’s most famous desktop wallpaper.

Microsoft has faced a lot of criticism for its classic Windows XP desktop background, which has graced more than a billion computer screens since the system’s launch in 2001. phylloxera, a bacterial disease that killed grapes . When the plague hit in 1999, about 50,000 hectares of farmland were destroyed.

Although the cost to the developers was astronomical—a total of half a billion dollars—the state of Northern California was not in good shape. The endless rows of vines have turned into a carpet of lush grass and wildflowers here and there.

This Sonoma County view was taken from Charles O’Rier’s car window in 1998 while driving on Route 121. Although a professional photographer, his work was shown to National Geographic and the Los Angeles Times, O’. The back up wasn’t on the phone that Friday evening. Instead, he visited his girlfriend (now wife) near San Francisco.

But he kept looking at the local hills. It was January, he recalls, and after the winter rains, “the grass was green and I knew the chances of finding these beautiful cliffs were pretty good.” “I’ll be ready. I’ll be alert.”

Then he saw “My God!” It’s green! “The sun is out, it’s cloudy.”