I’m not sure why Apple put Aurora image as its login image on Leopard. In my opinion this image is a bit of downfall to overall package of new MacBook and Leopard on late 2007. I’m not saying that the image is bad but Aurora does not fit into Apple’s brand in my mind. Perhaps, I already get use to Apple’s abstract image (Aqua), either in blue, gray, and once I even got the yellow, gold, and brown combination, which is very good and I got this one for free. (Check this link). The abstract image is very well known among Panther and Tiger iBook/PowerBook/MacBook/MBP users.
Due to this matter, changing the startup login image is my option to create a “full-feel” Leopard MacBook. I know that there are many tools which I can use to change the login image of Leopard, but the main reason of switching into Mac is the simplicity it offers, in this case there must be an easy way of changing the startup login image by using all default application and Administrator privilege.
- Pick any picture, other than Aurora. This image must have at least 1280 x 800 resolution with jpg format.
- Create another copy of the above file and rename into “DefaultDesktop.jpg” – case sensitive.
- The startup login image you’re about to replace can be located in ~/System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg.
- The easiest way to replace the file is by drag and drop using the new file you’ve chosen earlier. In this case you have to have the Administrator privilege. Enter the Administrator password into dialog box popup.
Congratulation, you have just changed your startup login image of Leopard with just the power of Finder, though you may find out that the ownership and permission of DefaultDesktop.jpg has changed. This can be fix by running the Repair Disk Permissions using Disk Utility application.
And all is Done!
The above picture is my late 2007 white MacBook startup login image after being changed into what I believe Panther Aqua Blue – that is what any MacBook should look like. 
