In news that can only be described as era-defining, Microsoft has revealed that it’s making a pair of Windows XP-themed Crocs. The Crocs are currently only available to Microsoft employees, but The Verge claims that they will eventually be available to buy worldwide.
The Crocs feature Windows XP’s iconic Bliss wallpaper, complete with the cloudy blue sky and green grass fields. From a distance, everybody will know you’re rocking a pair of Windows XP crocs. You might even get people asking you where you got your awesome Crocs from!
The Crocs also come with a drawstring bag, which is also rocking the Windows XP Bliss wallpaper. Inside that bag, you’ll find six Jibbitz, inspired by different Microsoft products like Internet Explorer, Clippy, and MSN. It’s a major nostalgia throwback to 2001.
For those who may not be clued in to the world of Crocs, Jibbitz are attachments you can add to your Crocs to customize and stylize them. The Jibbitz attach via the trademark holes found in all Crocs across the galaxy.
You can get all of this for $80, which is quite a bit more expensive than a standard pair of Crocs, but probably totally worth it. I’m absolutely ordering a pair as soon as I can.
The Crocs come as part of Microsoft’s continued 50th anniversary celebrations. Just this week, we got our hands on Microsoft’s exclusive Surface Laptop 7 50th Anniversary Edition, a variant of Surface Laptop 7 that was built specifically to celebrate Microsoft’s give decades on earth.
The 50th Surface Laptop 7 features a unique gold accent on the lid, and a retro 1975 Microsoft logo below the keyboard. What makes this laptop so unique is that it was never made available for sale publicly. Microsoft only ever gave these away to people via competition, though Microsoft employees could buy them.
The Windows XP Bliss wallpaper is iconic in its own right, and it was only a matter of time before Microsoft used it in its 50th anniversary celebrations. The wallpaper has an interesting history, now being one of the most viewed photographs in the world. It is a real photograph taken by Charles O’Rear in Sonoma County in 1998, and rights to the photo were purchased by Microsoft in 2000.
The hillside where the photograph was taken no longer resembles the peaceful grassland depicted in the Windows XP wallpaper. It’s now a vineyard. Either way, it’s unlikely that Microsoft will ever ship a more iconic wallpaper than the one that came with Windows XP.
What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s new Crocs? Let us know if you’ll be buying a pair in the comments below.
