Microsoft's anniversary edition Windows XP-themed Crocs are definitely a look, but I'm not entirely sure I could carry them off

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These boots are made for coding.

Windows XP Crocs
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Die-hard Windows XP fans rejoice, your footwear of choice has arrived. Microsoft has launched special anniversary edition Windows XP-themed Crocs. Yes, that's Crocs as in the famously ugly foam clogs. And, yes, these special edition versions have been plastered liberally with an XP-inspired colourway.

That, of course, means they've been fitted up with the iconic Bliss wallpaper. The top of the Crocs have been Blissed out with fluffy white clouds and a blue sky, while the soles rock the green grass of Bliss's rolling hills.

Will they ever be rolled out for we mere mortals? The Verge reports a "worldwide launch" will follow, but it's not clear when. But in case you're interested and as we've noted previously, not only was the hill in the OG Bliss wallpaper real, the high-saturation image that looks thoroughly fake wasn't even manipulated.

The Bliss image was taken in 1996 by photographer Charles O’Rear. It was acquired by Microsoft some time between then and the 2001 release of Windows XP. Oh, and the hill in question was located in Sonoma County, California. Indeed, it still is, but it's now a vineyard rather than grassy knolls.

By some measures, Bliss was once thought to be the most viewed photograph in the world. An awful lot of peepers have been pointed at an incalculable number of images since. So, it's hard to say whether that remains true, if indeed it ever was.

Either way, with Bliss now immortalised in Crocs, the only remaining question is whether you're bold enough to wear 'em.

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Jeremy Laird
Jeremy Laird
Hardware writer

Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.

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