Bliss, originally titled Bucolic Green Hills, is the default wallpaper of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system.

Charles O'Rear, a former National Geographic photographer, took the photo in January 1998 near the Napa–Sonoma county line, California, after a phylloxera infestation forced vineyards to be cleared from the hill years prior.

The photograph depicts a lush green rolling hill with cirrus clouds during a daytime sky, with mountains far in the background.

[1][2] It was taken by Charles O'Rear, a former National Geographic photographer and resident of St. Helena, California, in the Napa Valley region north of San Francisco, while on his way to visit his girlfriend in January 1998.

[3][4][5] He drove along the Sonoma Highway, California State Route 121 intersecting 12, when he noticed the hill, which had been cleared of vineyards after a phylloxera infestation years prior.

[3][9] O'Rear recalled that he was alert for a photo opportunity the day he took the photograph, considering that a storm had passed over and winter rains left the hills green.

[10]: 2:40  O'Rear later recollected that he had previously attempted to capture the Napa Valley hills with the Kodachrome 64 film but was dissatisfied due to the unsaturated greens.

[20][21]: 816  Another image of O'Rear's, known as Red Moon Desert in Windows XP, was also considered to be the default wallpaper, but was changed due to testers comparing it to buttocks.

[10]: 3:37 [24] They offered O'Rear what he says is the second-largest payment ever made to a photographer for a single image; however, he signed a confidentiality agreement and cannot disclose the exact amount.

"[3] O'Rear needed to send Microsoft the original film and sign the paperwork; however, when couriers and delivery services became aware of the value of the shipment, they declined since it was higher than their insurance would cover.

[30] O'Rear said that Microsoft also questioned him about the authenticity of the photograph several years after the release of Windows XP, with the developers saying that "most of us think it was Photoshopped.

[21]: 818  David Clark of the British magazine Amateur Photographer commented on the aesthetic qualities of Bliss, saying that "critics might argue that the image is bland and lacks a point of interest, while supporters would say that its evocation of a bright, clear day in a beautiful landscape is itself the subject."

[2] Writing for Digital Camera World, Hannah Rooke said that Bliss became a metaphor for peace, nostalgia, and natural charm.

"[31] In a journal, Pedagogical University of Kraków professor Marcin Kania referred to Bliss as "one of the most recognizable contemporary landscape photographs.

[21]: 816 Due to the market success of Windows XP over the next decade,[2] Microsoft and some journalists speculated that it might be the most viewed photograph in history.

In December 2001, a screensaver featuring Bliss was released,[37] while in July 2021, a modified version of the photograph was added to Microsoft Teams as a background.

[45][46] The duo said that they were attracted to the Bliss location due to it being "a backdrop to our lives in the front of the screen, as a kind of collective subconscious.