Microsoft recently released a set of 10 commemorative wallpapers to mark the 12th anniversary of the Windows Insider program. The collection features five color schemes, each available in light and dark versions with a resolution of 4000x4000 pixels, incorporating design elements from Windows Insider history and current Surface products.
Reverse engineer Rafael Rivera discovered that the metadata of one wallpaper file identified the creation software as Adobe Photoshop 27.10 (Macintosh) with a creation date of October 1, 2026. Rivera noted that these files originated from Microsoft's internal design team rather than external contractors.
The files contained references to the ProEXR plugin, suggesting a complex workflow involving 3D rendering and post-processing. Following public attention, some users reported that subsequently downloaded versions of these files no longer contained the original metadata fields, though Microsoft has not provided an official explanation.
This is not the first instance of such an occurrence; the 11th-anniversary wallpaper pack previously included a hidden __MACOSX directory, which is typically generated by macOS during file compression. Microsoft has not issued a formal statement regarding the specific hardware or software used in the creation process.
