A week ago, maybe a little longer, there was a thread on the forums asking for the wallpaper that came with Dapper, for someone who was running Gutsy (or something like that; I’ve lost the original thread). Each release usually has its own wallpaper, and the original poster preferred something that wasn’t on hand for the version he had.
Which got me thinking … there were some other wallpapers that came out in each version that it might be fun to revisit — particularly for old timers, or just for me. So I raked through the old releases for each version — Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu — and plucked out the wallpaper that came in each one.
(This is the part where I warn you that these are the original images, some of them PNGs that reach 1Mb or larger in size. I was going to convert them to JPGs to cut down on load times, but I think that might defeat the purpose. And remember that xs.to tacks on a random number, to avoid duplicated file names.)
Warty Warthog, Ubuntu 4.10
In the early days, there was only Ubuntu — no K-, Edu- or X-versions.
Hoary Hedgehog, version 5.04
Hoary changed the images, but didn’t change the names of the files. So the files were identical, but the image was different. Here’s what I mean:
With Hoary, Kubuntu made its debut.
Since the original image was an SVGZ file (a compressed vector graphic), I converted it to a PNG for the purposes of thumbnailing. And since that’s a transparent image, the root desktop color is what formed the color of the full image — royal blue, if I remember right. I put an SVG of the image here, if you’re a purist and you want that instead.
Breezy Badger, version 5.10
Again, Ubuntu changed the image, but not the file name.
Kubuntu followed suit, with an identical file name but a new image.
Again, an SVG version is here.
Xubuntu debuted with version 5.10, but was only available as a metapackage, which means it’s not possible to glean the original wallpaper suite from an ISO. But as I remember it, the default wallpaper for 5.10 was the XFCE mouse-in-a-swirl image, which is still available in every Xubuntu installation. (I think; correct me if I’m wrong.)
Edubuntu also appeared with 5.10, with two wallpapers and matching widescreen versions. These are specific to Edubuntu:
The other two are identical, down to the md5sum, to the default Ubuntu wallpapers for 5.10.
Dapper Drake, version 6.06
Two new images appeared in the Ubuntu 6.06 release — Dawn of Ubuntu and Ubuntu Simple.
And of course, the default image — still called warty-final* — was updated. This is the “chocolate swirl” that most people remember.
 warty-final-ubuntu.png |
 warty-final-ws-ubuntu.png |
Kubuntu relied on only one image for 6.06.
Xubuntu got its chance as an ISO in 6.06, and bundled a few extra wallpapers as options.
 xubuntu-luzi.png |
 xubuntu-steel.png |
And Edubuntu went a different direction, offering these two images, the latter as a JPG.
 edubuntu_chalkboard.png |
 edubuntu_homies.jpg |
Edgy Eft, version 6.10
In spite of the four-month rush to Edgy, the wallpaper images got a revamp. Some names were reassigned and the “chocolate” image got called that, along with an update.
 ubuntu-smooth-chocolate.png |
 warty-final-ubuntu.png |
The Dawn of Ubuntu image was held over to Edgy, but was a JPG this time.
Ubuntu-DawnOfUbuntu_1600×1200.jpg
Kubuntu updated its image as well.
Xubuntu added a new image, while keeping identical (yes, even to the md5sum) -steel and -luzi images.
Edubuntu refreshed one image, recasting it as “edubuntu_default.” The “_homies” image was identical to the previous release.
Feisty Fawn, version 7.04
For 7.04, Ubuntu revised only the “warty-final” image, and the “chocolate” image was allowed to remain the same.
Kubuntu, on the other hand, repeated the same image from 6.10 — and yes, I did check the md5sum.
Xubuntu did something similar, repeating the Edgy wallpaper as the default (but knocking the resolution down to 1024×768) while keeping the previous version and appending it with “-edgy.” Since the new version was a step down, I haven’t uploaded it here. The Edgy version is a higher resolution and the Feisty version was the same.
Edubuntu updated both of its images, taking on a more professional look for both. “homies” was still a JPG though.
 edubuntu_default.png |
 edubuntu_homies.jpg |
Gutsy Gibbon, version 7.10
Probably my favorite for default Ubuntu backgrounds, Gutsy added “elephant-skin” (a JPG) while giving the standard “warty-final-ubuntu” image a very attractive makeover.
 elephant-skin.png |
 warty-final-ubuntu.png |
Kubuntu likewise gave a new image, and this one was also a huge improvement over the previous year (in my humble opinion, of course 
).
Xubuntu continued to included past wallpapers, but marking them as belonging to previous versions. The -steel and -luzi images were also packaged in Gutsy. Xubuntu’s 7.10 image was rather whirlpool-esque.
And Edubuntu, to round out the entire history thus far, finally dropped the “homies” image and packaged only a default plus a widescreen (both PNGs this time).
 edubuntu_default.png |
 edubuntu_default-wide.png |
And that’s about it. I haven’t included Hardy because Hardy isn’t done. Remember that there are more wallpaper packages available through the repositories, but I didn’t include them. So if Blubuntu wallpapers changed between 5.10 and 6.06, I don’t know anything about it.
For most of these I ripped the wallpaper out of the deb packages downloaded from the package search pages. If the packages weren’t there any longer (pre-Dapper, in other words), I used the ISOs on the outdated release pages to find the original wallpaper. Yes, it did take a while. 
If you want all the wallpaper I scavenged, plus the ones I didn’t upload because they were repeats, click here. You’ll also have the added bonus of losing the triple-digit number xs.to adds to the uploaded versions.
If I’ve made a mistake or missed any, please let me know. Enjoy!
Awesome post, I really dig seeing changes like this. I hadn’t/haven’t used Ubuntu much but I never noticed the backgrounds were changing this much. I guess I just always saw “brown.”
Is it just me, or do the Edubuntu wallpapers look the best of them all?
That was quite an interesting read, kudos to you for taking the time to find those images. I also agree with you that elephant-skin is the best looking wallpaper out of the bunch.
Nice post! Personally I preferred the original Warty Warthog wallpaper, I loved the washed out understated look, it was neither offensive, too in-your-face or too brown
I had never even heard of Ubuntu until 2 months ago when I installed it. But even I found your page here incredibly interesting. I personally prefer the chocolate swirl and am using that on Hardy.
Thank you for this post. I had only seen the hardy and intrepid wallpapers, and I was wondering what had come before. It seems that with hardy they have started incorporating the animal into the image. I look forward to future versions.
thanks for making my ‘ol’ desktop background available…
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