For those of you that do not know, the default wallpaper in Windows Vista is the Aurora Borealis. Actually, it is the Windows Vista Aurora wallpaper, but it is inspired by the Aurora Borealis. And it is the work of Jenny Lam, the creative leas on the Microsoft Experience Design Team. In the video embedded at the bottom you will be able to see a video fragment with her talking about the default wallpaper in Windows Vista.

As Lam puts it, wallpapers need to provide users with a library of choices for personalization, but at the same time not steal the focus or interfere with the other tasks of the operating system. You might even say that they are designed to just sit in the background... Right, now that I have indulged in the wordplay of the day...

Peaceful, calm and open are the defining characteristics of the Windows Vista aurora wallpaper. "This is the largest piece of real-estate that you have on your screen. So there is a lot of thinking about how it aligns to our brand value," said Lam, adding that the wallpaper needed to be in concert with the new look and feel of Windows Vista.

Dimensional and immersive, with a lot of energy but also elegance and sophistication, beauty and professionalism, the Aurora has provided the Microsoft Experience team with the default wallpaper for Windows Vista. Lam even describes it as being a continuation of the default wallpaper in Windows XP. Just take a look at the video.