Just as the Betta fish wallpaper has become synonymous with the Beta Build 7000 and Release Candidate (RC) Build 7100 builds of the latest Windows client, so does the now default Harmony background define the RTM development milestone of Windows 7 (Build 7600). In the video embedded at the bottom of this screen, you will be able to get an idea of the design efforts that went into the creation of the Windows 7 RTM default wallpaper. Not only this, but Microsoft also discusses 

 the creation of the logon screen for the successor of Windows Vista, revealed Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communications manager on the Windows Client Communications Team.
 

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Channel 9’s Larry Larsen “was able to talk to Denise Trabona who is a senior UX (User Experience) Lead on the Windows Design and Research Team. Denise shares insight into how we went about designing the default background seen on Windows 7 desktops (the default) and also the logon screen. If you’re someone interested in UI and the thought processes behind how and why we make things look the way they do in Windows, this video is just for you,” LeBlanc said.

Some of you, especially those that followed closely the development of Windows 7, might be able to pin point the exact moment when the Harmony wallpaper was introduced into the operating system. It was late into the building of the latest version of Windows, namely with Build 7232, that Microsoft unveiled the default background of Windows 7.

Hoowever, Trabona has also talked with Channel 9 in August 2009, after Windows 7 was released to manufacturing. “There's no doubt that the backgrounds in Windows 7 are the most unique in Microsoft's history. What was the thinking behind them? Who comes up with the backgrounds? How do you determine what art hundreds of millions of people would like to see every day? Senior UX Lead Denise Trabona joined me to talk about the story behind the backgrounds of Windows 7,” Larsen revealed at that time. 

 source: news.softpedia.com