The Windows XP “Bliss” wallpaper is burned into everyone’s brain from the early 2000s—those rolling green hills and perfect blue sky were the default backdrop for over 400 million PCs when XP launched on October 25, 2001. Shot by photographer Charles O’Rear in California’s wine country in 1996, the image wasn’t edited—it just looked that unreal. XP itself went through key updates like Service Pack 1 in 2002, SP2 in 2004, and SP3 in 2008, keeping that same serene hill in the background the whole time. For anyone who grew up booting up a clunky beige tower, “Bliss” wasn’t just a wallpaper—it was the start screen for the entire internet era.