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How the Default Windows 7 Wallpaper and Login Screen Design Became So Iconic

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:47:25 -0600

Artist Chuck Anderson has found immense success at the ripe old age of 24. If you’ve installed the Windows 7 RC or final version, you’ve seen his artwork. Chuck designed the login screen and default wallpaper for Redmond’s new OS.

Microsoft contacted him in December 2008. They started off showing him the crazy background themes they were bundling with Windows 7. This may have put the young independent artist at ease knowing he had a lot of leeway in his designs.

The designs were done with pencil and paper first, and then transferred to Photoshop for refining. The entire process took about four months. In the process of designing the login screen, Chuck and Microsoft noticed an early version had a series of seven lines at the bottom. They started repeating that in the final design. If you look at his work, you’ll see there are seven branches, seven leaves, and seven flower petals in a few places.

Microsoft managed to collaborate well with a talented young artist, and our new Windows is much more attractive for it. Hit the story link for some work in progress images of the background and login screen.

Windows 7 Feature Focus: Working with Displays and Projectors

Mark Edward Soper — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Windows 7's display configuration settings have gone through some of the biggest transformations from previous editions, including Windows Vista. And, the changes are more than skin-deep. With improved support for portrait displays, better ways to detect and manage multiple monitors, easy projector connections, and better theme controls, Windows 7 makes it easier than ever before to make the visual components of Windows work the way you want them to.

Accessing Display Settings

Windows 7 provides a variety of ways to access display settings. Right-click an empty location on the desktop to select from Screen Resolution, Gadgets, and Personalize menus:

From the Control Panel, you can access the Personalization category (shown here) and the Hardware and Sound category. Both categories include links to Display settings, and, on laptop computers, the Hardware and Sound category also includes a link to the Windows Mobility Center, which offers laptop-oriented display options.

This article focuses on the Screen Resolution and Personalization menus. A future article in this series will discuss Gadgets and other desktop features.

Using the New Screen Resolution Dialog

The new Screen Resolution dialog in Windows 7 is the nerve center for much more than adjusting screen resolution:

This dialog, as in previous versions of Windows, is also used to identify and configure multiple displays. However, it also provides new features and functionality:

Click Detect to detect a newly-installed display. This feature helps overcome one of the biggest problems with multiple display use – getting Windows to find the additional display(s).
Open the Orientation menu to switch between portrait and landscape modes, or to flip the display "upside down" to enable the display to be hung at different angles.
Click Make Text or Other Items Larger or Smaller to open the Appearance and Personalization Display text size selection dialog.

Selecting the Optimal Resolution for Your Display

According to a study of Windows Feedback Program data performed by the Engineering Windows 7 blog last fall , 55% of users with default monitor displays of 1280x1024 or higher did not use their displays' default resolution, but used a lower resolution. What happens if you don't use your LCD display's default (aka 'native' or 'recommended') resolution? Some of the problems cited by the Engineering Windows 7 blog include:

Blurry text resulting in eye fatigue
Reduced resolutions often use non-native aspect ratios, causing distorted text and graphics
Inability to tune LCD displays with ClearType
Inability to view 720p or higher HD video signals

Fortunately, it's easier than ever to choose the best resolution for your display in Windows 7. Select Screen Resolution or Adjust Screen Resolution to open the Change the Appearance of Your Display dialog shown in the previous figure. To change screen resolution, open the Resolution menu. The current setting is listed along with a pointer adjustment, along with the recommended setting:

Note that the recommended setting might not necessarily be the display's maximum setting. In this example, I needed to increase the display's resolution from 1280x768 to 1440x900. If you need to change your resolution, select the correct resolution, click Apply, then OK. Click Keep Changes on the confirming dialog that appears to save the new resolution setting. Here's the dialog after increasing the resolution as recommended:

Switching Display Orientations

While most LCD displays, like the CRT displays they've superseded, are used in landscape mode, there are many situations in which portrait mode is preferable, such as in page layout and heavy-duty word processing. If your LCD display uses a VESA standard mount, you can switch the standard mount for a variety of monitor mounts for swivel use.

In Windows 7, it is no longer necessary to open a proprietary display driver function to switch display orientations. Open the Orientation menu and select the orientation desired:

Note that the preview changes when you select Portrait:

How much more can you see when you use portrait mode instead of the default landscape mode when editing a document? Here's a document on a Windows 7 desktop in the default landscape mode:

Switch the display to portrait mode, and you can see much more of the document at one time:

Detecting and Configuring Multiple Displays

Windows 7 continues the multiple-display support features found in earlier Windows versions, but with a significant improvement: Windows 7 can now detect additional displays. After you connect an additional display to your system and turn it on, click the Detect button (1). After the display is detected, use the new Multiple Displays dialog to select how to use the additional display (2):

After enabling an additional display, you must click Apply before making other changes:

Note how easy it is to switch to only a single display in Windows 7: rather than needing to select the display and clear selection boxes as in Windows Vista and earlier versions, just select whether you want to use only display 1, or display 2, and so on.

Working with Projectors on Mobile Systems

If you are working with a projector on a mobile system, you have even more tools that can make your life easier. On notebook, table PC, and other mobile systems running Windows 7, the Hardware and Sound category features an additional category: Windows Mobility Center:

Click Adjust Commonly Used Mobility Settings to open the Windows Mobility Center dialog. Use the Connect/Disconnect button in the External Display function (top right) to add or remove an additional display. Click Turn On or Turn Off in the Presentation Settings to work with a projector:

The Presentation Settings dialog provides quick access to common options for projector use:

After you connect your projector, you can use the Display Settings dialogs shown earlier to fine-tune your connection.

Working with Themes

Themes, the combination of visual and audio features that personalize your desktop, have been around for awhile, but previous versions of Windows made working with themes difficult, to put it mildly. In Windows XP, creating a theme meant working with the multi-tabbed Display properties sheet, never seeing a list of current settings, and thus never being quite sure what was in your theme. Although Windows Vista provided easier ways to change theme elements, it was still a challenge to find out what you'd selected. Finally, Windows 7 makes selecting and creating a theme easy by showing you exactly what a theme includes (note that Windows 7 Starter edition doesn't support themes).

While you can go directly to menu choices for background, window glass colors, sound effects, and screen saver from the Personalization menu, it's just as easy to make these choices from the Themes submenu. To get started, click Change the Theme from the Appearance and Personalization category's Personalization menu:

The themes dialog shows you themes you've created (1); the current background, window color, sound scheme, and screen saver (2); a scrolling list of additional themes (3). The highlighted theme is the current theme:

Note that you can also download additional themes (click Get More Themes Online).

Selecting a Different Theme

To select from the themes built into Windows 7, scroll down and click the theme you prefer. Windows 7 includes seven themes built for Aero and six basic and high-contrast themes:

When you select a theme, the elements of the theme are automatically displayed at the bottom of the theme dialog. In this example, I selected the Aero Architecture theme:

Most themes included in Windows 7 do not specify a screen saver, so you will probably want to add one and save the modified theme. To modify an element in a theme, click the element (such as the setting for screen saver) in the bottom of the Themes dialog.

Selecting a Screen Saver

The Screen Saver dialog is virtually unchanged from previous Windows versions, and also lists screen savers from optional programs (this example shows entries installed by Picasa and Windows Live Photo Gallery):

After selecting a screen saver and choosing options such as wait time and whether to display the login (logon) screen, click Apply, then OK, to use your changes:

Selecting Backgrounds

To change the current desktop background, click the link at the bottom of the Themes dialog. The selected background - or backgrounds - are marked with checkboxes (see the Architecture category). You can select a different background category (1), browse to a specific location (2), select or clear all pictures in a category (3), select picture location (4), choose how often to change backgrounds if you have more than one selected (5), and optionally shuffle the order of background images (6).

To choose only one subcategory, click the title bar for that subcategory (such as Architecture).To select all of the photos in a category, click Select All. To use only one photo, click Clear All, then click the photo you want to use. To use more photos, use Ctrl-Click to select the photos you want. However, if you prefer Solid Colors, you can only choose one color at a time. Click Save Changes to save your selections.

Changing Window Color and Appearance

The Window Color button opens the Window Color and Appearance menu, which is virtually identical to the Windows Vista version. Click the Advanced Appearance Settings dialog to make changes in the Windows Basic or High Contrast color schemes:

Again, click Save Changes to use your new selections.

Selecting a Sound Scheme

The fourth element in a theme is the sound scheme. Click Sounds to open the Sound dialog shown here:

As with previous Windows versions, you can select an event and click Test to see if you like the sound choice. What can you expect when you select a new sound scheme? Here are three examples: Cityscape uses jazzy vibraphone sounds, while Afternoon uses acoustic guitar chords, and Sonata puts a string quartet at your disposal. Click Apply, then OK, to use your choice. If you add or modify sounds in the current scheme, use the Save As option to save your changes first.

Saving a Modified Theme

Whenever you modify a theme, a new Unsaved Theme is created. After reviewing your choices (1), click Save Theme (2):

Enter a name when prompted, and click Save. The new theme is listed in My Themes:

Conclusion

With few exceptions, Windows 7 has made the process of customizing your display and desktop much easier than with previous Windows editions. Hit Comment and share your favorite themes, tips, and tricks.

Mark is the author of the forthcoming book Easy Microsoft Windows 7, and is inspiring digital photographers everywhere with his new book The Shot Doctor: The Amateur's Guide to Taking Great Digital Photos.

Finally, More Windows Ultimate Extras [Updated]

Mark Soper — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:27:54 -0500

One of the big selling points for Windows Vista Ultimate, aside from its integration of the features of Vista Home Premium, Enterprise, and Business in a single (expensive) Vista edition, has been the promise of exclusive content packs, known as Windows Vista Ultimate Extras. Unfortunately, these bonus applications have been very slow in arriving.

The Ultimate Extras Scene, Up Until Now

Although the first Ultimate Extras, Hold'em Poker and BitLocker Drive Preparation tool with EFS enhancements, were introduced in February 2007, along with DreamScene Preview, a beta of its live-video wallpaper, it took much longer for additional content to surface.

More DreamScene live-video wallpapers showed up in March 2007 as part of the DreamScene Content Pack, but it wasn't until September that Microsoft rolled out the completed version of DreamScene. The 34 language packs also developed to enable Vista Ultimate users to use the Multilingual User Interface have been offered at various times (and withdrawn), but are available again with the advent of Service Pack 1.

So, What's New?

This week, Microsoft has rolled out a third set of live-video wallpapers for DreamScene, as well as two new sound schemes: Glass and Pearl. To get Ultimate Extras, use Windows Update.

Listening Closely to Glass and Pearl

First, I installed the new Glass and Pearl Sound Schemes. Windows uses the default sound scheme to play sounds for various events, such as emptying the Recycle Bin, starting and closing Windows, and many more. To modify a sound scheme or select one of the optional sound schemes in Windows Vista, use Control Panel's Personalization menu, available in the Hardware and Sound category.

According to Microsoft's new UltimatePC website (the replacement for the original WindowsUltimate website), the Glass sound scheme "makes the sounds seem like they are played on 'glass' instruments," while the Pearl sound scheme features "a richer, milky, more percussive sonic palate."

[following sections updated 4-25-08]

It's easy to hear the differences for yourself, but not if you listen to the same event in different sound schemes without listening to a different event first. As reader ericlinna points out in his comment, there's a glitch in the way Vista handles event sounds when you're using the Test function. His solution? Play a sound event in the Default scheme, switch to the Pearl or Glass scheme, play a different sound event, then play the original sound event in the new scheme. There's a big difference, all right. Kudos to ericlinna! Note to Microsoft: please fix the glitch, OK?

You'll have to judge those descriptions for yourself. When I used my office's 2.1 speaker system to play a variety of sounds in the Windows Default, Glass, and Pearl schemes, it was very difficult for me to tell one scheme from another, especially at low volumes. However, if you connect your PC to a high-quality 5.1 surround audio system with good speakers, a headset, or your home theater system, you might hear more significant differences.

Giving DreamScene a Closer Look

If you're new to Windows Ultimate Extras, you need to download and install DreamScene before you can download any of the content packs, including the new #3 Content Pack. Make sure your system has a Windows Experience Index of at least 3.0 if you want to use DreamScene.

DreamScene includes one animated wallpaper (vid1337, an animated version of the default img24 Vista wallpaper). The DreamScene Content Pack adds four additional animations: vid8897 (wild clover in a field), vid8898 (raindrops falling on a puddle at night), vid8899 (water flowing over rocks in a stream), and vid9899 (a computer-generated wall of fire). The DreamScene Content Pack Favorites adds vid1999 (an aura glimmering around a Vista icon-shaped planet), vid8896 (a waterfall and rapids), and vid9898 (marbles moving past machinery). The new DreamScene Content Pack #3 includes vid7997 (water dripping from a leaf), vid7999 (autumn leaves blowing gently in the breeze), and vid8895 (water dripping from an icicle). Here's how they look in the Desktop Backgrounds menu:

To select a DreamScene animation, right-click the desktop, select Personalize, click Desktop Background, select Windows DreamScene Content, and click the animation you want to use. DreamScenes are designed for widescreen displays, so if you use a 4:3 (TV-format) display, select the Center or Maintain Aspect Ratio options for most pleasing results.

Summing Up

If you don't have a terrific speaker system, high-quality headphones, or if you usually turn off the Default Windows sound scheme, you might not find it worthwhile to try the Glass or Pearl sound schemes. However, DreamScene makes a big difference to your desktop.

If you like audio indications of what's happening on your system, the Pearl and Glass sound schemes add your choice of sophisticated touches to your audio environment.

DreamScene videos are relaxing, have minimal impact on most system tasks (provided your system has a Windows Experience Index of at least 3.0), and can be paused and restarted. To pause DreamScene, right-click your desktop and select Pause DreamScene. To restart animation, right-click your Desktop and select Play DreamScene.

If you like DreamScene, you can make your own DreamScene videos by downloading Stardock's DreamMaker.

[updated 4-25-2008]

DreamScene Arrives on Vista Ultimate Desktops

Mark Soper — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:58:38 -0500

DreamScene, the newest Windows Vista Ultimate Extra, finally made its appearance yesterday. DreamScene's been available in beta since February 2007, but it's now available in its production form. Windows Vista Ultimate users can download it via Windows Update.

What Is DreamScene?

DreamScene enables you to place full-motion video as wallpaper on your Windows Vista Ultimate desktop. After installing DreamScene, access it via the Desktop Background section of Control Panel's Personalization menu. Initial DreamScene videos include vid1337 (an animated version of the default Windows Vista Ultimate wallpaper), vid8897 (thistles blowing in a field), vid8899 (water rushing over rocks), and vid9899 (a computer-generated wall of fire). If your graphics adapter is capable of running Windows Aero comfortably (a Windows Experience Index of 3.0 or greater), DreamScene will work very nicely for you.

Getting More Out of DreamScene

Stardock Corporation's Dream WinCustomize website offers user-created Dreams and free addons for DreamScene:

Deskscapes adds support for dynamically generated 3D wallpapers and changes based on triggers.
Dream Maker is a DreamScene content creation program.

How to make a multi-monitor compatible wallpaper

Will Smith — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:40:28 -0500

I run a delightful tri-monitor display at work, and over the years, I've always been pissed that wallpaper just doesn't display right with multiple monitors. Not only can you not display separate backgrounds on different displays, but if your displays are different resolution, one of them is going to look either stretched and fugly, or cropped and weird. So, last week I set out to figure out an easy way to make multimon-friendly wallpaper.

Here's my desktop layout at work. I have three monitors connected to two cards, and the monitor numbered 2 is my primary display.

My display setup consists of three displays--my primary display is a 1920x1200 LCD in the center, with a 1280x1024 display on either side of the primary. So, the first thing I did was fire up Photoshop and create a template of my display, with distinct colors on each area, so that I could easily tell which wallpaper is showing on which screen. My test image is 4480 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high, click the image below to see the full size mock.

My super-sexy triple-monitor wallpaper test screen.

But, unfortunately, that didn't work. The images were all misaligned. The left screen box on my wallpaper was displaying on my center screen, my center screen box was on the right screen, and the right screen box was on the left screen. Not good. However, I was able to quickly figure out what was going on. Apparently, Windows displays the top-left corner of your wallpaper on the primary screen, then wraps around from right to left. When it got to the end of the right screen, it wrapped the remainder of the wallpaper to the left-most screen.

After a little trial and error, I was able to create a wallpaper that displayed correctly on my desktop, with the proper boxes in the proper places.

So, I went back to Photoshop, to try and create a template that would display correctly. I moved the left screen box to the right side of the right screen box, and then moved the entire image over so that the top left corner of the center screen box was in the top-left corner of the image (click the image above to download the full image). When I tested the new test image, I had much better results; and I used that wallpaper as a template for drop in the images I actually wanted to use. Below, you can see my finished result (click the image to download the actual wallpaper).
The finished product, click the image to download my sweet wallpaper.

Maximum PC Desktop Backgrounds

Maximum PC Staff — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:46:45 -0500

We first posted desktop wallpapers are few weeks ago, and people rejoiced. We've got a few more designs, if the first two didn't float your boat.

Featuring Dream Machine 2006, this paper is sure to induce jealous stares from all your co-workers. 1920x1200 1600x1200

The stunning media vortex design will let your cubemates know that you rock your music and movies your own way. 1920x1200 1600x1200

Do you overclock? Does everyone around you know it? Show them with our Overclocker's Special Limited Edition. 1500x1300 1600x1200