Microsoft debuts new Windows 10 ‘Hero’ default desktop image

This is a far cry from the rolling green hill many of us grew up with on our desktops. Microsoft’s updated operating system will come with a new “hero” desktop image, the default option when Windows 10 is first installed. The company debuted the image today in advance of
Windows 10’s release next month.

The new desktop image is a simple, updated Windows logo created with light. An elaborate video shows some of the creative and physical process of capturing the image.

“If you can get past the montage of people patting the designer on the back, you’ll find precious little of substance here,” longtime Windows watcher Paul Thurrott said in a post criticizing the choice. “What they should have done instead, obviously, is duplicated the Bing Desktop app in Windows 10 and made that the default, starting with 10 images that would ship with the OS.”

The Bing Desktop app updates the desktop image daily.

Microsoft had previously shown off the Windows 10 desktop with images of snow-covered mountains and twisting rivers, but this image will be the default for the official Windows release.