Connect the dots: Microsoft is asking developers to trade in their MacBook Pros for the new Surface Laptop Ultra for $2,600. So it’s strange that the wallpapers just shared with Windows Insiders appear to have been saved in Photoshop on a Mac.
Most image files have a small tag with the name of the app that last saved them, hidden in a properties menu that few people ever open. When a Windows developer checked Microsoft’s latest wallpapers, it suggested Photoshop was running on a Mac. The company has since traded in cleaned copies.
The wallpapers were sent via email in mid-October as a thank you for 12 years of the company’s early access Windows Insider program. The message states that the designs are based on the program’s history and “the latest Surface design aesthetics.” There are ten pieces in total, which are placed around flowing bands in five colors, each in a light and a dark version.
A developer named Rafael Rivera delved into the files almost immediately after the email arrived. One of the image’s properties listed a Mac version of Adobe Photoshop as the program used to save it. He posted a screenshot on X with the short caption, “Created on a Mac.”
In a follow-up, he said the set came from Microsoft’s in-house design team. This means that the Macs in question are most likely on desks within the company itself.
To be fair, Macs have been a staple in design studios for decades, so it’s not all that surprising that Microsoft’s own team is working on them. The timing is just a little strange, as Rivera’s post went up a day before the $2,600 Surface Laptop Ultra shipped.
Microsoft introduced this laptop as a MacBook Pro alternative for developers. Online stores in the US and Canada are even offering MacBook Pro owners up to $1,000 on top of the trade-in value for the change.
The company has not commented on this, but appears to have taken note. Within a few days, someone pointed out that the files on the design website had been quietly exchanged. French outlet MacGeneration then tracked down the original package on the Internet Archive. These older files open in the Mac’s built-in Preview app and still have Photoshop for Mac.
Of course, this tag only shows which app last saved a file, so it can’t tell where the bands were first drawn. Last year’s 11th anniversary pack left a different clue. Anyone who has unzipped it on Windows has found a stray __MACOSX folder, the hidden housekeeping folder that macOS adds to archives created in Finder
That alone just proved that the ZIP file was packaged on a Mac. Combined with this year’s day, this suggests that Macs are an integral part of the team’s workflow.
For anyone who just wants the ribbons, the complete set is still available as a free download from Microsoft Design’s wallpaper page.
