Free and Beautiful Computer Backgrounds from Bing!

Are you a wallpaper lover? A computer wallpaper lover? Have you seen those Bing wallpapers over at Bing.com and said, "Man, I sure wish I'd snagged the awesome picture they had back in December 2009"? Me too. Read on and learn how to uncover an amazing source of free and high quality images for use as computer backgrounds.

When I first started using Bing, I have to admit, I wasn't sure I'd like the new search engine. Over the years since the Internet first came on the scene, I've climbed up the proverbial ladder of search engines trying sites such as Alta Vista, Ask Jeeves, DogPile, and many others. I finally thought I'd settled on Google. I loved the simplicity of Google's white page, the simplicity of the searches... and then I looked at Bing.

Sure, the search capabilities of Bing are really growing on me. (I particularly like the web preview feature) But it is, without a doubt, the fabulous daily pictures that they use for their backgrounds that have completely won me over. I'm a visual guy. Don't believe me? Take a look at the way I sometimes pray or send txt messages. Visual and creative? Yeah, that's me.

Bing's backgrounds are awe inspiring, and I love using them for wallpapers. But what about the one's from last week? Or that special one back in December?

Getting older Bing Wallpaper -- Not so easy

When I first set a Bing background as my background image, I simply right-clicked on the image while on the Bing homepage and picked "Set as background". That worked good for the current day, but what about the pictures from last week? Last month? Last year? Were they gone for good? Never to be repeated?

It took a while to locate, but after sending out about three dozen homing pigeons, conversing with some trained dolphins and consulting with some nerdy friends, I finally found the answer (insert trumpet sound here) -- The Bing Archive Page! (Link to follow below)

The Bing Archive - Some Really Cool Features

When I first looked at the Bing Archive webpage, I thought there was something wrong. The page came up like a monthly calendar, but why were there two thumbnail pictures exactly the same? One on top the other? Then I looked a little more carefully and noticed that one had an American flag, the other a United Kingdom flag. (Visual learner is kicking in here) I'm going to just take a guess (since my trained dolphins didn't know) but, could it be that Britain and the United States each get different Bing backgrounds on the same day? Any UK folks out there who can confirm that? If anyone would like to sponsor me, I'm certainly willing to look at the Bing page here in Florida, then hop aboard a transatlantic flight, hit a London Internet Cafe and bring up Bing. (The only thing stopping me is that little thing known as an "airline ticket". Any generous souls out there? Could I get one for my wife too?)

Bing Wallpapers in other countries!

So, there I was, just enjoying the U.S. and British pictures when suddenly I noticed something else about this page. There are more countries to choose from! With the Bing Archive open, take a look across the top right part of the page. Here you'll find check boxes for the: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand, Germany and Canada.

I went ahead and checked all of them! (That's what creative, dolphin talking people do, incidentally). The webpage ended up with a huge thumbnail gallery of images. When you have it in this configuration, you can see that some images are repeated on different days, but it also appears that there are very specific pictures for specific countries. So, if you're looking for a great background or wallpaper from a specific place, try checking the applicable country's flag.

Setting as Wallpaper

Navigate through the Bing Archive by clicking on the arrows in the upper left and right quadrants of the page. This will obviously take you to different monthly dates. Click on the photo of your choice and it will display in a larger resolution. At this point, you can right-click the photo and choose "Set as background" or "Set as wallpaper". Or, you can choose to save the photo to your computer's hard drive so you can use it to change the background later.

Ever wondered the who/what/when/where of photos shown here? You'll be glad to learn that hovering over either the thumbnail or larger image will give you a tiny pop up with the description, the picture's owner, and any copyright/Advertising Agency information.

How Far Back Do The Bing Pictures Go?

If you're wondering about the earliest Bing picture, the first image shows up on May 25, 2009. Visit that page now by clicking here.

It would appear that the United Kingdom started getting different pictures on July 12, 2009. You can jump right over to that month by clicking here.

The other countries? Well, you'll just have to experiment and find out!

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Of special note, Bing has been putting up some amazing shots of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Click here to go to the month of February where Bing first began featuring them. The Vancouver pictures begin at February 12^th and go out from there.

Bing on Facebook!

Did you know that Bing is on Facebook? The Bing Facebook Page includes a photo album chock full of awesome images. It's labeled, Bing's Home Sweet Homepage Photo Contest but you can jump right to it by clicking here. A nice thing about the Facebook pages is that you can read through a multitude of comments that have been made for many of the pictures. Sometimes the author or originator of the shot will dialog with fans, even share camera and photography tips on how they achieved their amazing shots. Perfect for aspiring and veteran photographers learning to sharpen their creative skills.

Final "Bingish" Thoughts

Don't let that computer of yours languish about with a drab, old wallpaper picture. Give your computer's wallpaper a fresh new look with a new Bing wallpaper. Visit the The Bing Archive Page today!

Oh, and, just so you know, the dolphins don't really talk to me. The homing pigeons though.... well....