Download these official "Dynamic" wallpapers that were planned but cancelled in Windows 11

One thing that almost everyone will agree with about Windows is the iconic wallpapers the OS brings every time. For example, Windows XP had its "Bliss," which, by the way, also exists in a modern 4K version that Microsoft itself designed using its Designer app.

Meanwhile, fast forward to today, in the case of the two most recent operating systems, we have Hero on Windows 10 (download high-quality wallpapers of it here) and Bloom in the case of Windows 11. Here's how the tech giant described it during the launch of Windows 11:

With Windows 11, a fresh perspective starts with the very first image you see on the screen: a desktop wallpaper that’s also a symbolic image of starting anew with this operating system.

Inspired by flowers, this new blue beauty is called Bloom. The story of its creation spans a creative and dynamic collaboration between engineering, design and marketing teams at Microsoft, across an ocean during a pandemic and which incorporated a parallel workflow that caught the eye of Windows 11 designers.

There have been some iterations of it before Microsoft finally landed on what people are familiar with.

Meanwhile, all-new live "Dynamic" wallpapers of Windows 11 were recently published by Microsoft designer and enthusiast Sergey Kisselev on the Behance website.

The example image at the top of this article is also inspired by petals similar to the official Bloom wallpaper. The author, Kisselev, reveals the back story behind these adding that these animated wallpapers were part of Microsoft's efforts to celebrate the "new centered signature composition for Windows 11":

A variety of dynamic animations and still images were explored for Microsoft’s low-cost devices, primarily targeting educational users. This work was part of the Windows Creative Direction Team’s efforts to celebrate a new centered signature composition for Windows 11, highlighting its centered Start Menu and taskbar. The designs were crafted to be adaptable for light and dark modes, allowing for flexibility in interpretation and execution.

Apparently, these were still part of Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2 but were ditched by Microsoft prior to the release of 24H2, interestingly this feature also never came through the Canary, Dev or Beta channels which might suggest another issue with the Windows Insider channels:

Below is an example of how the Start screen could have looked, had the feature been greenlit:

And the Desktop with the Start menu opened, below:

You can download the live Dynamic wallpapers in high quality from this OneDrive link here, which include the two 4K "live" versions of the "Light" theme and "Blue loop" in MP4 format, along with examples of how 22H2 or 23H2 could have looked had Microsoft followed through with Dynamic Wallpapers. Lower res versions are available in the attached gallery.

Source: Sergey Kisselev (Behance) via Albacoe

Gallery: windows 11 Dynamic wallpaper