Abstract:
Microsoft recently launched a new set of desktop wallpapers for the 12th anniversary of the Windows Insider preview program. It was originally intended to thank users who have participated in Windows testing for a long time, but because of the Mac-related information that appeared in the file, it triggered heated discussions in the technology community. These wallpapers are said to be produced by Adobe Photoshop on Apple computers. Microsoft has recently been actively promoting the creative capabilities of Windows 11 and Surface computers. This contrast has quickly become the focus of ridicule among netizens.
The Windows Insider program was launched in 2014 to allow users to experience beta versions of Windows in advance and help Microsoft improve the operating system through feedback. To celebrate the 12th anniversary of the program, Microsoft sent an email to participants providing a new set of commemorative wallpapers. Microsoft says the designs blend elements of Windows Insider history with the design of the latest Surface products.
There are 10 wallpapers in this set, divided into five colors. Each color scheme provides light and dark versions, with a resolution of 4000×4000 pixels. The screen adopts a streamlined design similar to Bloom, the default wallpaper of Windows 11, and creates a three-dimensional sense through layered colorful curves and gradient effects. The overall style is consistent with Microsoft’s visual design in recent years.
However, after reverse engineer Rafael Rivera checked the wallpaper file properties, he found that the metadata of one of the images marked the production software as "Adobe Photoshop 27.10 (Macintosh)" and the shooting date showed October 1, 2026. This means that the image in question likely used the macOS version of Photoshop, at least during file processing.
What drew even more attention to the outside world was that Rivera later stated that these wallpapers came from Microsoft's internal design team and were not simply produced by external contractors. If this information is accurate, then this set of commemorative works specially prepared for Windows users is likely to have been processed by the design software on Apple computers.
This discovery quickly sparked all kinds of ridicule. Some netizens took this opportunity to question whether Microsoft truly believes that its products are suitable for creative work, and even joked that "even Microsoft itself does not use Windows 11." This statement is obviously an exaggeration, but the reason why it has attracted attention is related to the background of Microsoft's current vigorous promotion of Windows 11 computers and emphasis on the creative capabilities of Surface devices.
The fact that using a Mac to create Windows wallpapers does not in itself prove that Microsoft employees prefer Apple computers. Adobe Photoshop also provides a Windows version. Which device a designer chooses may depend on personal working habits, team device configuration, software environment, or specific project process. It is impossible to determine the main operating system used by the design team on a daily basis based on a piece of file metadata, let alone to conclude that there is a general preference for Mac within Microsoft.
In addition, metadata cannot completely restore the creation process of the image. The streamlined graphics in the wallpaper may be generated in 3D software and then post-processed through Photoshop. The "ProEXR File Description" field of the related file relates to the ProEXR plug-in, which is primarily used for processing multi-layered OpenEXR images. Therefore, these works may involve multiple aspects such as 3D rendering and image post-production, but the specific production process has not been publicly confirmed by Microsoft.
There is a subsequent change worth noting. Windows Latest reported that some wallpaper files downloaded later no longer display the original program name, date and other metadata fields. Some users believe that Microsoft has updated relevant files, but Microsoft has not publicly explained why this information disappeared, nor whether it has been modified specifically for Mac-related fields. Therefore, it is currently impossible to confirm whether this is an intentional process or a natural change when the file is re-exported or packaged.
This is not the first time a similar situation has occurred. The "__MACOSX" directory created by macOS appeared in the Windows Insider 11th Anniversary wallpaper compressed package released last year. This type of directory is usually automatically generated by macOS when compressing files and may contain resource files or extended attribute information, so it is regarded by some users as a clue that the relevant file was processed in the Mac environment.
From a practical point of view, this incident does not affect the use of wallpapers in Windows systems, and there is no evidence that it has any relationship with the security, stability, or performance of Windows 11. There is no necessary connection between the final visual effect of the wallpaper and which operating system is used to create it. For professional designers, tool selection should usually be based on work efficiency and actual needs, rather than necessarily being consistent with the platform on which the work belongs.
However, this incident still reflects a real problem faced by Microsoft in product promotion: When the company continues to emphasize that Windows 11 and Surface are ideal platforms for creative work, any details that show that its internal workflow may use competitor products are easily amplified and interpreted by the outside world.
At present, Microsoft has not yet made a public statement on the production equipment and metadata changes of these wallpapers. Rather than using this to determine which computer Microsoft internally prefers, the more noteworthy aspect of this incident is that file metadata can provide clues to the production process, but it is not enough to prove the overall device preference of the design team alone. For users, this set of wallpapers is still a free anniversary gift; as for the device selection behind it, it has become more of another topic discussion in the technology community around Windows and macOS.
Download wallpaper:
https://microsoft.design/wallpapers/
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