Microsoft recently celebrated the 12th anniversary of the Windows Insider program, releasing a set of exclusive commemorative wallpapers and sending them to testers. Unexpectedly, shortly after the wallpapers went out, a sharp-eyed engineer dug up the files’ birth certificate, showing that the metadata for these Windows commemorative wallpapers points to the Mac version of Adobe Photoshop.
Although it’s no big deal for Microsoft employees to use a Mac for work, this set of wallpapers was, after all, meant to celebrate Windows Insider, so having them made on a Mac still feels a bit hard to justify. After the news came out, it immediately sparked heated discussion and teasing among netizens.
Image source: Rivera
Microsoft’s Windows Insider 12th anniversary wallpaper caught out! Metadata reveals it was actually made with the Mac version of Photoshop.
According to foreign media Windows Central According to reports, Rafael Rivera, who has long studied Windows internals and is one of the developers of the volume tool EarTrumpet, recently shared on X the latest letter Microsoft sent to Insider members. The letter mentions that Microsoft has prepared a new background image for all Insiders, inspired by the 12 years of the Windows Insider program and Surface’s latest design aesthetics.
Rivera casually checked the wallpaper file’s properties and found that they showed it was made with the Mac version of Adobe Photoshop. He also wrote in the post, “Created on a Mac.”—meaning “made on a Mac”:
New Windows Insider email: “we created new backgrounds for all Insiders inspired by 12 years of the Windows Insider Program and the latest Surface design aesthetic” https://t.co/4gzu6wPcWO Created on a Mac. https://t.co/0d8HgHlvh0
— Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael) October 15, 2026
Some people might think that Microsoft may have outsourced the wallpaper to a design company, and the company just happened to be used to working on Macs, which would explain why a Mac was used. Moreover, Microsoft has indeed collaborated with outside artists on wallpapers in the past; for example, Six N. Five and Olivia Xu have both created visuals for Windows.
However, Rivera later added on X that this batch of wallpapers was made by Microsoft’s in-house design team, not an outside contractor.
Image source: Rivera
As the news went viral, reactions from netizens abroad were almost overwhelmingly mocking. Some joked that Microsoft used an Apple computer as promotional material for Windows, while others jumped straight to the conclusion: it seems even Microsoft employees prefer Mac over Windows 11.
In addition, another user shared that they originally switched from Windows to Mac precisely because Adobe software ran more smoothly on macOS.
It’s actually very common for designers to work on Macs, so it’s not a serious issue; it’s just that this wallpaper happened to be used to celebrate Windows’ anniversary, which is why everyone teased it. Windows Central also thinks this isn’t a big deal—it just happened to coincide with Microsoft’s efforts to promote Windows hardware, which made it seem especially awkward.
Foreign media outlet Windows Report reported that Microsoft appears to have quietly updated its wallpaper files, removing metadata related to Mac.
Setting aside this episode, the wallpaper itself is still worth downloading. This time Microsoft has released a total of 10 wallpapers, all in the same ribbon origami design, divided into 5 color schemes: blue, green, orange, purple, and gray-white, with each color scheme having a bright and a dark version.
Each image is a 4000×4000 square PNG, and the full ZIP package is about 80MB. You can download it without joining the Windows Insider Program:
- Official download location:Windows Insider 12th Anniversary Wallpaper ZIP
Source: KOCPC Chinese