Microsoft is killing Windows' Blue Screen of Death
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After 40 years, Windows computers will soon crash differently. Microsoft is doing away with the iconic and dreaded Blue Screen of Death error message to make way for a cleaner one.The Blue Screen of Death, or BSOD, has been around since the early days of the Windows operating system. Created by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer , it appears when a system suffers a fatal error in a programme, or the application becomes unresponsive. Some versions show an error code to help identify the specific problem.Now, the BSOD will be replaced by a Black Screen of Death . As the name suggests, the error message will have a black backdrop instead of a blue one. Microsoft has also taken away the sad face emoji and QR code. The new screen will just show a message that the device ran into a problem and needs to restart. The error codes will be pushed to the bottom of the screen.'This is really an attempt on clarity and providing better information and allowing us and customers to really get to what the core of the issue is so we can fix it faster,' David Weston, vice president of enterprise and OS security at Microsoft, told The Verge in an interview.Microsoft is expected to roll out the new BSOD design later this summer, along with its new Quick Machine Recovery feature that can help quickly restore machines that can't boot. The new BSOD error screen is part of a broader effort by Microsoft to improve the resiliency of Windows in the wake of last year's CrowdStrike incident , which left millions of Windows machines booting to a BSOD.
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