Bliss.
It’s only a little thing. Very minor. Tiny. Minuscule, even. Some people probably wouldn’t even notice it1. And those that do probably wouldn’t care… but when i setup a new PC and the desktop background / wallpaper / “screensaver” / whatever-you-choose-to-call-it has been stretched to fit the screen it bugs me. A lot. These OEMs know the size of monitor they’re shipping and what resolutions the graphics card can handle, so include some suitably sized background images, you silly silly bastards! It’s not difficult. Manufacturers, if you can’t be arsed to include an image of the correct size then don’t bother setting a background image at all – just set it to a solid colour. OEMs should be showing off the quality of their hardware to the new customer, not leave them wondering if they’ve bought a pup.
Grrr.
Anyway, if you’re as petty as me, you may be interested in this. At the other end of that hyperlink you’ll find the original Windows XP “Bliss” wallpaper. Yep, the original as-in a 46MB, 4510×3627 TIF image. Download that and you can create a wallpaper that’ll fit just about any size screen. Nobody need look at a green and blue fuzz again.
Of course, there are plenty of better wallpapers than “Bliss” out there…
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Yes, a little bit of self-deprecation about my penis would fit here nicely. I successfully resisted that particular temptation though. ↩