It is possible to download the active image easily in the web browser to the local computer system. Previous Bing images can be downloaded as well by using the forward and backward controls on the Bing homepage.

But that’s a rather tedious process, that needs to be repeated regularly to keep up with the image posting frequency.

bing homepage images

A better more practical solution, is a software that downloads the images directly to the local computer system, and Bing4Free is such a software.

The application works on first glance similar to the previously reviewed Bing Downloader. On second look though Bing4Free offers more than just downloads of Bing wallpaper images.

bing images

Wallpaper downloads are initiated directly on program start, and stored in a user folder on the local hard drive.

Between 10 and 50 images can be displayed in the program interface. Each image can be set as the desktop wallpaper by right-clicking it and selecting the set as desktop wallpaper option.

It is also possible to use the build in wallpaper switcher to automatically change desktop wallpapers in intervals. These are set to five minutes by default, with the option to increase or decrease the interval in the program options.

Bing4Free is a handy Bing homepage image downloader and wallpaper changer. The application needs to run in the background for the wallpaper switching.

Downloads are available at the project page over at Codeplex. Make sure to download the November release, and not the updated December release, as the latter appears to be broken and non-functional.

It is possible to download the Bing background image manually. How it is done depends on the web browser used. Firefox users can for example simply right-click on the image and select View Background Image to view the image in a new tab from where it can be saved to the computer system.

Bing Downloader has been designed to automate the process. All it does is to display and download the latest Bing background image. There are no advanced options available like downloading previous background images. All the user needs to do is to run it once per day to download that day’s background image to the computer.

The background images usually have a size of 958×512 which makes them not suitable as wallpapers for computer systems with large computer monitors unless the user decides to center the wallpaper. Bing Downloader is a free 10K download. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5.

Update: Bing seems to use different background images as can be verified at the Bing Image Archive.