The Hidden 7’s in Windows 7

Jason | Dec 07, 2009 | View Comments

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Way back when Microsoft originally released the Beta version of Windows 7, a lot of people were not familiar with the species of fish used on the background image that was used as the default wallpaper. I had a Beta fish as a dormitory pet in college, so I was familiar with the fish and thought it interesting.

The Beta fish was the first piece of “hidden imagery” used in creating the Windows 7 experience. Shortly after, people noticed that there were 7 air bubbles coming from the beta fish signifying the 7th edition of Microsoft Windows.

Fast forward to the release of the RTM and you might have noticed a new logo with some rays of light and different elements within the well-known Microsoft flag. At first, I thought the flag and elements within were sort of a strange step away from the norm. I didn’t think much of it until I recently read an article and video by Channel 9 and 10 describing the process of creating the new logo and logon screen and describing some of the hidden 7’s in Windows 7.

As pointed out in the video, by studying the following screens, you’ll notice that there are 7 light strands throughout in the desktop background as well as 7 elements in the 4 Quadrants of the Microsoft flag.

There are also 7 leaves on the branches located on both the wallpaper and logon screen.

For an interesting video describing the process of creating the new logo and wallpaper click here.

What else can we expect from Microsoft in terms of hidden features and gems found in the large amount of code that goes into Windows 7? You may have already read the article describing how to change the hidden backgrounds in Windows Media Player 12, but how many more “interesting finds” will we discover? Let us know if there is anything interesting that you have noticed in the new Windows OS.

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