Even though Microsoft insists on licensing its products,

"It is unlikely Microsoft would have made the mistake of agreeing to a licensing deal with a random photographer when it could have simply gone on asking other people to agree to a one-off payday until it found a willing seller."

In case you thought that image was perfectly shot,

"Microsoft did, however, make a few minor changes to it, such as cropping the left side of the frame and altering the colour of the hillside to make it a much more vivid green"