Microsoft turns iconic Windows XP "Bliss" wallpaper into Ugly Sweater

This year's Microsoft Ugly Sweater takes on one of the world's most iconic photos. (Image: Microsoft)

Microsoft is once again offering an Ugly Sweater again in 2023, this time based on the "Bliss" background image from Windows XP. If you missed Bliss, you can download four variations of the iconic wallpaper for free, both for PCs and smartphones.

Hannes Brecher (translated by Jacob Fisher), Published 11/30/2023 🇩🇪 🇨🇳 ...

Gaming Windows

After Microsoft's Ugly Sweater was offered in a slick minesweeper look in 2021, this year's edition pays homage to a Windows OS of days past. The "Bliss Edition" of the Ugly Sweater has the standard Windows XP background printed onto a sweater in a simplified color version that emphasizes the retro charm of the motif.

The pixelated mouse pointer in Windows XP style is not lacking either. The Ugly Sweater is made of 55% cotton and 45% acrylic. A portion of the sales proceeds will be donated to The Nature Conservancy, thereby benefiting environmental protection. The latest Windows Ugly Sweater can be ordered from the Xbox Gear Shop for USD 107.95. Only the SM size is currently in stock, but stocks vary hourly. Although Microsoft delivers worldwide, shipping is from the USA, so buyers should expect longer delivery times.

Microsoft also provides that feeling of nostalgia for customers who don't want to wear an Ugly Sweater, as the "Bliss" wallpaper can be downloaded in high resolution on the sweater's official product page, either in landscape format for desktop computers or in portrait format for smartphones.

Microsoft includes three additional, highly stylized versions of Bliss, which have been simplified in color to better fit modern Android themes. The website also features a lo-fi soundtrack that is intended to recapture the essence of simpler times at the beginning of the millennium.

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Xbox Gear Shop

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Editor of the original article: Hannes Brecher - Senior Tech Writer - 14900 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018

Since 2009 I have written for different publications with a focus on consumer electronics. I joined the Notebookcheck news team in 2018 and have combined my many years of experience with laptops and smartphones with my lifelong passion for technology to create informative content for our readers about new developments in this sphere. In addition, my design background as an art director at an ad agency has allowed me to have deeper insights into the peculiarities of this industry.

contact me via: @HannesBrecher, LinkedIn, Xing

Translator: Jacob Fisher - Translator - 924 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022

Growing up in regional Australia, I first became acquainted with computers in my early teens after a broken leg from a football (soccer) match temporarily condemned me to a predominately indoor lifestyle. Soon afterwards I was building my own systems. Now I live in Germany, having moved here in 2014, where I study philosophy and anthropology. I am particularly fascinated by how computer technology has fundamentally and dramatically reshaped human culture, and how it continues to do so.

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Hannes Brecher, 2023-11-30 (Update: 2023-11-30)

Microsoft turns iconic Windows XP "Bliss" wallpaper into Ugly Sweater

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