One of the things I love most about my job is that I get to see thousands of images submitted by artists and photographers from around the world, through the Open Call project . From sweeping landscapes and cityscapes to macro images that show the tiny details of a dried leaf or the reflections in a...

I am so over winter. I am so done hoping we might get some actual snow (a rarity here in the mild maritime Pacific Northwest), and so ready to move on to spring. And although it’s still cold, wet, and rainy outside, I can create a little bit of sunny springtime renewal on my Windows desktop with the...

The other day I was looking at comments people had left in the Personalization Gallery , and I noticed that someone asked, “How can I change my cartoon Space Needle lock screen picture to something different?” After getting over my surprise that not everyone loves the Space Needle as much as those of...

It’s a new year, and in the Windows Personalization Gallery we’ve been busily working on new themes and wallpapers for you. One of the newest and most exciting is our Halo 4 theme , which just published today; this theme brings Halo 4 heroes to your Windows desktop. Continuing in a similarly futuristic...

I just have a quick update for you this week, to let you know about our brand-new Jack Reacher theme which lets you get your Windows desktop ready for the December 21 release of the Jack Reacher movie! Also, don’t forget to check out the Holidays & seasons tabs on the themes and wallpapers pages...

Have you started baking for the holidays yet? This is the time of year when I get out the family gingerbread recipe and make sure I have enough flour, molasses, cinnamon, and cloves to see me through this season of making hot mulled cider and baking cookies. If you’d like a little baking inspiration...

Have you ever flown in a small plane? Those of you with real pilot experience will laugh, but many years ago I took a flying lesson in what might have been a Cessna 152 or a Piper Cub or possibly a VW Bug with wings. It was a tiny two-person airplane with an engine that sounded like a cross between a...

November has arrived, which means day after day of gray skies and rain here in the Pacific Northwest.  But I have a new theme to beautify and brighten your season  – Harvest Time !  For those of us in the United States, this theme comes just in time for Thanksgiving , but I designed it...

Some days, all I want is to sail away… or to lie on a beach somewhere, hearing the pounding surf, while I drowse over a book. My two newest themes are for all of you who need a virtual vacation. My hope is they’ll bring you a little bit of seaside relaxation, without requiring you to actually get on...

A few weeks ago we launched a new pilot project for you to submit your own art and photography for possible inclusion in a Windows 7 theme or as a wallpaper on the Windows Personalization Gallery . We’ve already received more than a thousand submissions, and more are coming in all the time. Today I am...

Hi, I’m Jennifer, the site manager for the Windows Personalization Gallery . I maintain and update the gallery (as well as the rest of the Downloads section), and produce new personalization content. One of the main things I do is manage and create Windows 7 themes. My regular blog posts about the gallery...

Spring is here! How do I know? Well, reason #1 is that last weekend brought some of the first sunny weather the greater Seattle area has seen in what seems like months, and I was able to dig weeds out of the rock garden without wearing a jacket. And second, because daffodils and crocuses are blooming...

On April 11 th we published a theme featuring the dreamlike world of water-drops, as revealed by the macro photography of J.P. Peter . I asked Jan about this project, and what gave him the idea. Jan replied, “On a blog I read about macro photography with reverse mounted lenses and tried that technique...

A month ago, we kicked off our Windows Live + Bing photo contest , in celebration of the release of Windows Live Essentials 2011 , asking you to send us your most stunning photos of clouds. The prize was having the best photo being featured on Bing.com for a day. We were overwhelmed with the response...

On a rainy Saturday in January, the unmistakable sound of Irish pipes came skirling out of one of the recording booths at Microsoft Studios. We were there on a mission to create a Windows 7 sound-scheme based on traditional Celtic music, to go with a new Windows 7 theme I was working on to release in...

Happy New Year! Whether you celebrated it on January 1 st (with fireworks !) or plan to do so on January 14 th or January 23 rd or another date, I wish you a wonderful 2012. It’s interesting that most of the world marks the turn of the year around this time. January 23 rd brings the start of the Year...

In my previous Themes Thursday blog post I introduced the photography of Josh Sommers with the HDR and double-exposure images in the Beach Sunsets theme . This week I have the pleasure of bringing you another theme featuring Josh’s work: this new Illusions theme provides a more complete introduction...

As I mentioned in a previous blog post , over the past year my teammate Zin, in Taiwan, has been spearheading theme projects featuring the works of many local artists. This week we have two new themes from Zin, created by the artist Cheng Ling; “ Taiwan Culture Sketches ” and “ Behind the Masks .” Ms...

When you first got Windows 7 and started exploring its personalization options, you might have noticed that there was already a theme for your country when you went to the Personalization control panel. I’m in the United States, so you can see that’s the theme I have here in my Personalization control...

Ah, February. The favorite month of florists the world over… at least anywhere Valentine’s Day is customarily celebrated with gifts of flowers. And of all flowers throughout history, the rose is the most enduring symbol of love. Sadly, although the symbol endures, a real fresh-cut rose doesn’t stay lovely...

Here comes Fat Tuesday! It’s time to set a party mood with the new Masquerade theme , which features elegant and mysterious masks for celebrating Mardi Gras and Carnival. In other current events, the wacky new Xbox Live game for Windows Phone, Chickens Can’t Fly , was just released. This new Windows...

In December we launched several new Windows 7 themes for the holidays .  If you’re looking for something seasonal, falling snowflakes and seraphic maidens float through the dreamlike Snow Angels theme . The new Winter theme features visions of sun on sparkling snow, icy pink sunrises, white mountain...

Smashing Magazine , an online (and independent) publication focused on web designers and developers, and the design community, has released 35 really neat desktop wallpapers for January 2010 . A calendar is embedded into each of the wallpapers. These wallpapers were created by designers all across the...

We’re kicking the year off with several new Windows 7 themes. In case you missed it, we celebrated New Years with the Fireworks theme , which features gorgeous firework displays from around the world. Next up is Arctic theme , which brings stunning photography of the frozen North and its wildlife to...

Microsoft is providing the official Expedition Software with Windows 7, Bing, and Windows Live Messenger for Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro . Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro, the brain child of musician and philanthropist Kenna, is an effort to drive global awareness around the clean water crisis...