Windows 8 Previews

From Windows Wallpaper Wiki
Revision as of 08:32, 13 September 2024 by FrostFury54267 (talk | contribs) (change build 8045 to 8038)

An article about pre-release versions of Windows 8, including alpha, Developer Preview, Consumer Preview, and Release Preview builds.

Wallpapers

Builds 8102 and earlier

Build 7700 uses the Windows 7 RC default wallpaper, likely due to being forked from a RC build of Windows 7. Build 7746 and 7758 changed the default wallpaper back to the one featured in Windows 7's RTM release. By build 7777, this would be replaced with an infamous blue-green gradient wallpaper with the text "shhh... let's not leak our hard work" at the top. Between builds 7927 and 8064, the wallpaper changed several times, each featuring a fractured wordoku puzzle that says "Start me up", with more letters being added in each revision of the wallpaper.[1][2] By build 8064, Windows 7's leftover wallpapers (except for the regional wallpapers) were removed. By build 8095, the puzzle is no longer present, with the default wallpaper being set to Windows 7's logon background, while a panoramic lake wallpaper (which was the first Windows panoramic wallpaper; at 3840x1200) has been added as an alternate option; all of the Windows 7 regional wallpapers were also removed.

Name Category Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img0 (build 7700) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from Windows 7 RC
img0 (builds 7777 to 7779) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown
img0 (builds 7785 to 7899) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown Leak warning removed from the wallpaper in favor of one being implemented as a watermark on the desktop
img0 (builds 7915 to 7978) Windows N/A Microsoft Jensen Harris
img0 (builds 7983 to 8002) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown (background)
Jensen Harris (puzzle) 		Based on a rejected Windows 7 wallpaper
img0 (builds 8008 to 8032) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown (background)
Jensen Harris (puzzle) 		Based on a rejected Windows 7 wallpaper
img0 (builds 8038 to 8064) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown (background)
Jensen Harris (puzzle) 		Based on a rejected Windows 7 wallpaper
img0 (builds 8095 to 8220, 8277[Notes 1], 8305, 8432 to 8441, 8520, and 9200.0.fbl_eeap) Windows N/A commissioned by Microsoft Chuck Anderson and Erik Attkisson Reused from Windows 7's logon screen, albeit with added compression
img1 (builds 8095 to 8140) Extended N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic

Builds 8118 to 8140

With the Windows 7 wallpapers being removed, new themes were added, consisting of photography taken by an unknown Microsoft employee. img0 and img1 from previous builds remained. The display names of the themes remain the same as the original Windows 7 themes despite many not correlating anymore, although there is no Nature theme, so as a result the new wallpapers start at img7. These wallpapers were not cropped, so most of them remain at 4:3 aspect ratios at 2189x1642 resolution rather than 16:10 at 1920x1200.

Name Category Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img7 Landscapes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img8 Landscapes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img9 Landscapes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img10 Landscapes N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img8 in build 8148
img11 Landscapes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img12 Landscapes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img13 Architecture N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from builds 7997 to 8064's lock screen
Removed in build 8148
img14 Architecture N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from builds 7997 to 8064's lock screen
Removed in build 8148
img15 Architecture N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from builds 7997 to 8064's lock screen
Removed in build 8148
img16 Architecture N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from builds 7997 to 8064's lock screen
Removed in build 8148
img17 Architecture N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from builds 7997 to 8064's lock screen
Removed in build 8148
img18 Architecture N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img2 in build 8148
img19 Characters N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img20 Characters N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img3 in build 8148
img21 Characters N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic, at 4752x1200
Reallocated to img4 in build 8148
img22 Characters N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img5 in build 8148
img23 Characters N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic, at 4864x1168
Removed in build 8148
img24 Characters N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img25 Scenes N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img6 in build 8148
img26 Scenes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img27 Scenes N/A Microsoft unknown Removed in build 8148
img28 Scenes N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img11 in build 8148
img29 Scenes N/A Microsoft unknown At 1824x1368
Removed in build 8148
img30 Scenes N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img12 in build 8148

Builds 8148 to 8161

By build 8148, the number of themes went down to just two and they were changed up; 17 wallpapers were removed (including panoramic lake wallpaper), while 4 new ones were added (1 panoramic and 3 at 4:3 aspect ratio, at 2144x1608).

Name Category Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img1 Theme1 N/A Microsoft unknown
img2 Theme1 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118
img3 Theme1 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118
img4 Theme1 N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic, 4752x1200
Reused from build 8118
img5 Theme1 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118
img6 Theme1 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118
img7 Theme2 N/A Microsoft unknown
img8 Theme2 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118
img9 Theme2 N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic, at 4736x1184
img10 Theme2 N/A Microsoft unknown
img11 Theme2 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118
img12 Theme2 N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from build 8118

Builds 8175.5 to 8441, 8520, and 9200.0.fbl_eeap

TODO: investigate builds 8186 and 8431

By build 8175.5, Theme1 was removed and replaced with a new Nature theme. The default wallpaper was replaced with a Metro version of the Windows 7 Beta wallpaper in builds 8186 and 8250, although builds 8305, 8432 to 8441, 8520, and 9200.0.fbl_eeap feature the previous wallpaper. By build 8195 (fbl_dnt3_wireless), Theme2 was also removed, although not replaced with another theme yet, however this theme still appears in many internal builds up to 9200.0.fbl_eeap along with the previous default wallpaper, so they aren't listed here. The default wallpaper was changed to one consisting of gray eights by build 8330, and one featuring a field of red tulips by build 8375 (the color temperature and saturation are slightly lower by build 8382).

Builds 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap reverted the set of wallpapers to the ones included in earlier builds but retains the display names of themes/wallpaper categories as in build 8513 as well as the final release (Theme1 as Earth and Theme2 as Flowers). This made the display names of themes/wallpaper categories and the actual wallpapers not correlated, similarly to build 8118 to 8140.

Name Category Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img0 (build 8186) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown Metro-ized version of Windows 7 Beta wallpaper
img0 (build 8233 and 8250) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown The fish is horizontally flipped from the wallpaper used in build 8186
img0 (builds 8330 to 8370, 8422, and 8423) Windows N/A Microsoft unknown A gray background with a lot of number eights
img0 (build 8375) Windows N/A Microsoft Bala Sivakumar Flipped horizontally from original, color temperature and saturation heightened
img0 (builds 8382, 8400, and 8431) Windows N/A Microsoft Bala Sivakumar The color temperature and saturation are slightly lower compared to that of build 8375
img1 Nature N/A Microsoft unknown Made brighter and spot moved from img105 from builds 8102 to 8161
img2 Nature N/A Microsoft unknown
img3 Nature N/A Microsoft unknown
img4 Nature N/A Microsoft unknown A picture of Orpheus Island
img5 Nature N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic
img6 Nature N/A Microsoft unknown Panoramic

Build 8513 onwards

RTM stabilization branches such as WIN8_GDR_SOC and WIN8_RTM include the final wallpaper set. It is not used in builds 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap, which use the previous wallpapers.

Lock screen wallpapers

TODO: identify build ranges

Lock screen wallpapers were added by build 7997. None of these appear in the final release. Much like the other wallpapers, they are highly likely to have been taken by Microsoft themselves.

Builds 7927 to 8064

This wallpaper is used for the lock screen when logged off.

Name Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
Flight of the Feathers N/A commissioned by Microsoft Red Nose Studios Cropped version of Windows 7's img23, located in LogonUI library dependency AuthExt.dll; used if system is redpilled. Image resources 1001 through 1013

Builds 7997 to 8064

Build 7997 added six lock screen wallpapers to choose from. All of them are in 2189x1642 resolution (4:3 aspect ratio) and they're created by an unknown Microsoft employee. The previous system lock screen wallpaper first included in build 7927 remained as the default background image.

Name Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img100 N/A Microsoft unknown Later re-added in build 8118 as a desktop wallpaper, img13
img101 N/A Microsoft unknown Later re-added in build 8118 as a desktop wallpaper, img14
img102 N/A Microsoft unknown Later re-added in build 8118 as a desktop wallpaper, img16
img103 N/A Microsoft unknown
img104 N/A Microsoft unknown Later re-added in build 8118 as a desktop wallpaper, img15
img105 N/A Microsoft unknown Later re-added in build 8118 as a desktop wallpaper, img17

Builds 8102 to 8441, 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap

Name Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img100 (builds 8102 to 8161) N/A Microsoft unknown Reallocated to img105 in build 8175.5
img100 (builds 8175.5 to 8220, 8277[Notes 1], 8305 to 8331, 8422 to 8441, 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap) N/A Microsoft unknown
img100 (build 8250)

img106 (builds 83xx)

Getty Images Getty Images Reinhard Dirscherl Fish removed, in later builds reallocated to img106 and removed in build 83xx
img100 (builds 8375, and 8400) N/A Microsoft unknown
img101 N/A Microsoft unknown
img102 N/A Microsoft unknown
img103 N/A Microsoft unknown
img104 N/A Microsoft unknown
img105 (builds 8102 to 8161) N/A Microsoft unknown A version with the spot moved and made brighter from this image is used as desktop wallpaper (img1) in builds 8175.5 to 8441, 8520, and 9200.0.fbl_eeap
img105 (builds 8175.5 to 8441, 8520 and 9200.0.fbl_eeap) N/A Microsoft unknown A saturated version of img100 from previous builds 8102 to 8161
Replaced with the original by build 8xxx
Only exist as the thumbnail for img100 in several builds in PC Settings → Personalize → Lock screen, as the actual file in %SystemRoot%\Web\Screen is the aforementioned version.

Build 8513

Most of the placeholder wallpapers were replaced with the wallpapers that appears in the final release; a new img105 was added.

Name Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
img100 N/A Microsoft unknown
img101 SuperStock Mauritius Mark Jonsson
img102 N/A Microsoft unknown
img103 Getty Images Getty Images Celine Ramoni Lee
img104 Getty Images Getty Images Kaz Chiba
img105 N/A Microsoft unknown

Builds 8888 onwards

By build 8888, img100 and img105 were replaced with the ones that appear in the final release.

User account pictures

Windows 8 came with the same selection of pre-loaded user account pictures as Windows 7 up to build 80xx (the new default user account picture was added by build 7899). By build 80xx, the number of user account pictures went down to just two; with the exception of guest, all of Windows 7's user account pictures were removed. By build 8161, 2 absolutely identical user account pictures were used for default accounts and guest account respectively. By build 8195, the default user account picture was replaced with the one that appears in the final release.

Name Licensed from Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
guest (builds 7700 to 8148) N/A Microsoft/Iconfactory unknown Reused from Windows Vista and 7
user (builds 7899 to 8061) N/A Microsoft unknown Reused from Windows Live Messenger
user (build 8064) N/A Microsoft unknown
user (builds 8102 to 8155) N/A Microsoft unknown Recolored to green from build 8064's
user (builds 8161 to 8176) N/A Microsoft unknown Similar to the Bill Gates' mugshot

OOBE and logon backgrounds

Start screen and logon wallpaper from builds 7899 to 7978

Redpill was introduced in build 7779 and is disabled by default up to build 8056 and in build 8118.[Notes 2] While the unredpilled OOBE and logon screen in builds 8118 and earlier used the same backgrounds as Windows 7, a new background was introduced for both:

  • Metro OOBE in builds 7899 to 7963;
  • Metro logon screen in builds 7899 to 8002.

The Metro OOBE and logon background were replaced by a gradient of the accent color in builds 7973 to 8045 and in builds 8008 to 8045 respectively, and the solid accent color for both from build 8056 onwards.

Build 8128 onwards no longer use Redpill; all the Metro features are now available out of the box.

Setup backgrounds

All builds of Windows 8 prior to build 8045 use the same setup background as Windows 7, although builds 8002 through 8014 also include an unused WinPE background image merely consisting of a simple teal-green gradient. Builds 8045 through 8161 use simply consists of #2D5980 color, and builds 8175.5 to 8438 use simply consists of #004050 color. By build 8441, the setup background was changed to a purple background (#180052), which is identical to the default Metro accent color in the final release.

  • Default WinPE background in builds 8002 to 8014
    Default WinPE background in builds 8002 to 8014
  • The setup background in builds 8045 to 8161.
    The setup background in builds 8045 to 8161.
  • The setup background in builds 8175.5 to 8438.
    The setup background in builds 8175.5 to 8438.

Picture Password

Picture Password was introduced in build 8xxx.

You can see these images in the Picture Password setup tutorial when setting it for the first time:

Name Resolution Originates from Photographer/artist Notes
17577 (builds 8102 to 8305) 579x388 Microsoft unknown
Jellyfish (builds 8330 to 8432) 1024x768 Microsoft Hang Quan Reused Windows 7's sample picture

By build 8438, the default Picture Password image was replaced with the one that appears in the final release.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Compiled February 8, 2012, before 8250
  2. ↑ Builds released to Microsoft partners via the Ecosystem Engineering Access Program (EEAP), including build 8064 (fbl_eeap) and 8102 (winmain_win8m3_eeap) have all forms of Redpill removed at compile time.

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/jensenharris/status/987544948516900864
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/jensenharris/status/988221480965099520
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