Windows 8.1 Preview

An article about pre-release versions of Windows 8.1. Unlike other versions of Windows, 8.1 is the only version where the final wallpaper set was introduced in the RTM build, 9600.

Wallpapers

Build 9271

Build 9271, despite being newer than the RTM build of Windows 8, reverted:

• The default wallpaper to the one used in Windows 8 builds 8095 to 8220, 8277, 8305, 8432 to 8441, 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap;
• Theme1 to the one used in builds 8176 to 8441, 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap;
• Theme2 to the one used in builds 8148 to 8176, 8305 to 8432, 8422 to 8441, 8520 and 9200.0.fbl.eeap.

Likely due to being forked from late development builds of Windows 8. However, the display names of the themes/wallpaper categories remain the same as Windows 8 RTM, making the wallpaper images and the display name of the themes/wallpaper categories not correlated, similarly to Windows 8 build 8118 to 8140.

	Name	Category	Licensed from	Originates from	Photographer/artist	Notes
	img0	Windows	N/A	commisioned by Microsoft	Chuck Anderson and Erik Attkisson	Reused from Windows 7
	img1	Nature	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img2	Nature	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img3	Nature	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img4	Nature	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	A picture of Orpheus Island Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img5	Nature	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Panoramic Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img6	Nature	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Panoramic Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img7	Flowers	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	At 2144x1608 Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img8	Flowers	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	At 2189x1642 Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img9	Flowers	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Panoramic, at 4736x1184 Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img10	Flowers	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	At 2144x1608 Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img11	Flowers	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	At 2189x1642 Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img12	Flowers	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	At 2189x1642 Reused from Windows 8 Previews

Builds 9299 to 9483

By build 9299, the wallpapers were reverted to the ones found in Windows 8 RTM. By build 9419, img0 was a duplicate of img3, replacing Windows 8 RTM's default wallpaper. While it is unknown if the unleaked build 9490 uses the final wallpaper set, the first known build to feature this set is the RTM build, 9600. One screenshot of build 9483 with the default wallpaper as seen in the RTM build exists, which is possibly a different compile from the currently leaked one.

Lock screen wallpapers

Build 9271

	Name	Licensed from	Originates from	Photographer/artist	Notes
	img100	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img101	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img102	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img103	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img104	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews
	img105	N/A	Microsoft	unknown	Reused from Windows 8 Previews

Builds 9299 to 9415

At this point in development, Windows 8.1's lock screen wallpapers are identical to Windows 8's.

Builds 9431 to 9483

By build 9431, img100 has been replaced with a new one. All of the lock screen wallpapers leftover from Windows 8 (img100, img101, img102 and img103) were reallocated to img101, img102, img103 and img104 respectively, replacing Windows 8's img104, when img105 remained unchanged; these ones aren't listed here.

	Name	Licensed from	Originates from	Photographer/artist	Notes
	img100	unknown	unknown	unknown	Default lock screen wallpaper; flipped vertically, zoomed out from top left, and recolored to blue as img1 in the RTM release (build 9600)