Microsoft
Home windows XP was an actively supported Microsoft product for 13 years, together with 5 years the place it was the latest model accessible and one other three years the place it was vastly extra common than its successor. That longevity—plus Microsoft’s complete domination of private computing within the pre-iPhone, pre-Android world—helped make its default wallpaper probably the most recognizable photos on the planet.
Microsoft is returning to the Bliss hill as soon as once more with this year’s entry in its now-traditional ugly retro-computing sweater collection. Blue hemming on the backside and on the sleeves evokes Home windows XP’s bright-blue taskbar, and in case individuals do not instantly acknowledge Bliss as “a pc factor,” there’s additionally an enormous mouse pointer hovering over it.
Previous ugly sweaters have included a Minesweeper motif, MS Paint, the Home windows emblem, and the immortal Clippy. Microsoft’s ugly sweater site additionally has wallpapers and some different retro Easter eggs for individuals with a while on their arms.
Microsoft says that gross sales of the limited-edition Bliss sweater will profit The Nature Conservancy and its “initiatives to fight the local weather and biodiversity disaster.”
For individuals who cannot get sufficient of Bliss or different ’90s- and 2000s-era Microsoft stuff, the corporate has additionally launched just a few retro-themed high-resolution wallpapers on its Microsoft Design site. Among the many photos on that website is a 4K rendering of the Bliss wallpaper.