Desktopcolors.com is an online archive that documents the solid background colors shipped by default with classic and modern desktop operating systems. As of its latest commit on 2026-08-09, the project catalogs 194 colors across 22 platforms.
The entries span decades of computing history. Windows 1.0 from 1985 used a dithered pattern of two colors to simulate a third, while Windows 2.0 from 1987 switched to a plain cyan (#57ffff) without dithering. Windows 3.0 and 3.1 each shipped roughly 50 selectable colors, and the teal (#008080) that defined Windows 95 carried over into Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. Windows 2000 and Windows Me both used a blue-gray (#3a6ea5) with 62 options.
Non-Windows systems are represented too. Amiga Workbench 1.x and 2.0 offered only four colors each, moving from blue to gray between versions. BeOS and its open-source successor Haiku both use the same steady blue (#336698). Mac OS 8 offered 13 Platinum-era tones, Solaris 9 included a violet CDE background, and Xfce lists 46 color options. Modern entries include KDE Plasma 6 with its single Breeze blue (#1d99f3) and hobbyist systems like ReactOS, SerenityOS and BleskOS.
The project is open source, hosted on GitHub under the account vlow, and accepts community contributions of additional platforms through its documented contribution process.
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