Windows 10 wallpaper and the astonishing truth behind the iconic image

Windows 10 is easily Microsoft's most-popular operating system, accounting for more than 70% of all Windows users, but what are the chances that all of those millions of Windows 10 users know the truth about the classic default background for the operating system. I would guess, very little of them do.

The release of Windows 10 came at a time when users were making their way through the trainwreck that was Windows 8, which even pushed many users back to Windows 7 - a renowned operating system. Windows 10 was a breathe of fresh air when it released and that is part of the reason why its still Microsoft's most-popular operating system.

All of these Windows 10 systems had at one stage or another, the classic Windows 10 default background wallpaper that many - and I would guess more than 90% - thought was a simple computer generated image. However, that isn't the case. The Windows 10 default wallpaper is actually a real photograph and the process to capture it was quite lengthy. First the team behind the image arranged a laser projector behind a large Windows 10 logo. The lasers were fired through the windows while volumetric smoke was released.

The wallpaper was created by designer Bradley Munkowitz, also known as GMUNK, who explains in a YouTube video that he and his team took thousands of images of the Windows 10 logo and combined all of the different exposures with different color filters to produce the image we all know. The images were layered on top of each other to form the final composite image.

So, there you have it. The iconic Windows 10 wallpaper isn't computer generated. It was made with practical effects and was a real photograph.