A non-traditional question to women ...

[Banished]

I like looking at computer hardware (it's beautiful), so I have a close up picture of a motherboard on my desktop right now, and I usually alternate it with pictures of my dogs.

[Lucifiel]

Hmmm... I'm female and about to install Ubuntu.

I'd probably put: attractive-looking people(gender matters not), mm... something that's cool and sexy(it could be a computer or some cool-looking device but I'm not into wheels though) or something artistically awesome.

The latest wallpaper I was using for WinXP(before heaven succumbed into hell) was from SilkRoad Online(I don't play that game though).

[daynah]

Recently I've been using the default ubuntu wallpapers. Isn't that crazy? I just love brown. Brown is totally the new black!

[nenyalorien]

now my Ubuntu desktop has lovely PINK tulips! my OS X desktop has a more delicate flower in a daintier pink... i have magenta in the background of my NeoOffice (spawn of Open Office made specifically for Mac)... i have the same pink tulip from my Ubuntu desktop on my twitter account.. pink pink PINK!

[skrimpy]

well I currently have a very sweet looking ubuntu logo on the background of this computer. On my XP computer I have rotating background wallpaper - pictures of my kids and FFXI fanart, a couple of flower photographs a good friend took, a scene from the movie Pride and Prejudice, and a scene from a webcomic (10k Commotion). Kinda eclectic there but so am I.

[tom56]

I don't have hot women, cars, or guns on my desktop but I get what the OP meant. I think cars and guns can be lumped into a general category of "shiny things" - men do tend to have pics of shiny things on their desktop. I often have an Olympus OM1 or Moulton as my desktop background because they are the prettiest shiny things amonst the shiny things I own. Other than that, the default wallpaper, or a funny comic.

[GreyShadow]

I like lots of trees!

[starwings]

"But the question remains ... what do women want to stare at (or show off?) on their desktop without many apps running on it?"

Hi,
I'm female and I tend to prefer nature (especially weather related), space (both photos and photorealistic), landscapes (forests, mountains, water), and animals (dogs and goats-farm scenes-more pastures than man made buildings). At work I had a wallpaper of a couple dogs playing chess for a while but I usually go back to landscapes. I tend to not like pictures of people even in a gorgious landscape. I LIKE people plenty <g> its just disconcerting to me to look at a picture with another human looking back at me constantly. I'd rather have no wallpaper than a picture of a pop star on my desktop and vehicles have no meaning to me. I do like color gradients but find nature and landscapes effect me more emotionally. I usually use gradients or photorealistic textures when I have the choice in application skins.
gentle day,
Lisa B

[MadTheologian]

I usually have a Threadless.com shirt design as background, although recently I've put up a V for Vendetta theme.

No beefcake nor cheesecake pics, tho'.

[justin whitaker]

The responses to this thread are all over the board, which just goes to show, the stereotypical view is wrong.

Personally, as a male of the species, I love to look at cars and women...but as I get older, I realize it's not exactly MATURE to have it on your computer desktop. There is a time and a place if you are into that sort of thing.

What drew me to that conclusion? Well, my best man's Dad wanted to show me something on his new laptop three years or so ago, and the wall was some Playboy bunny, or maybe a porn star. Whatever. The point is, here is this 62 year old guy, showing off his new laptop, with a wall that is neither professional, nor mature.

My rule of thumb is: if you can't show a presentation with that wall on the desktop as you are opening Office, then it shouldn't be there.