Latest news with #RaymondChen
Tahawul Tech
30-06-2025
- Tahawul Tech
Microsoft puts ‘blue screen of death' to rest
Microsoft is ditching the notorious 'blue screen of death' feature that appears on Windows computers, 'streamlining the unexpected restart experience' with a new black-coloured screen, the company announced recently. The 'simplified' screen that appears during 'unexpected restarts' will roll out later this summer on all Windows 11 devices that use 24H2 operating software. It will also reduce reboots to 'about two seconds for most users', the company said. Variations of the 'blue screen of death' have been in use since the early 1990s. It started with the 'blue screen of unhappiness' in Windows 3.1 when the control-alt-delete shortcut was added to exit an unresponsive program, along with dialogue written by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. But according to Microsoft employee Raymond Chen, the actual 'blue screen of death' launched in 1993 on Windows NT when the 'system is unrecoverably dead at this point'. Also, a version of the black screen was introduced in 2021 to Windows 11 users. This new iteration has updated dialogue. The blue screen haunted millions of people last July when a massive outage caused by CrowdStrike brought most of the world's technology to its knees and Windows-operated machines displayed the infamous blue. Source: CNN Image Credit: Microsoft
New York Times
27-06-2025
- New York Times
:( Microsoft's ‘Blue Screen of Death' Is Going Away
For millennials, blue can be a significant color. It is associated with clues left by a well-meaning dog in our youth. Songs about a little guy that lives in a blue world (Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di). Or the rage-inducing abject failure of the Windows computer in front of us. In other words, the Blue Screen of Death. And now, the world is set to bid a fond farewell to a generation's most feared and notable error message, as Microsoft announced on Thursday that the screen was being officially replaced by a less friendly but more efficient Black Screen of Death. The simplified screen, Microsoft said in a blog post, would roll out later this summer, and 'improves readability and aligns better with Windows 11 design principles, while preserving the technical information on the screen for when it is needed.' A new message — in white lettering — is slated to say, 'Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart.' For more than three decades, Windows has denoted some sort of serious crash or slow down in its system with a blue screen. An early version of the message was written by the former chief executive, Steve Ballmer, according to Raymond Chen, a longtime Microsoft programmer. The message, released in the early 1990s, would fill the screen: 'This Windows application has stopped responding to the system.' Underneath, multiple soothing options were provided over the blue-screen background, including ESC, and ENTER — which would give you false hope that the problem was fixable — and then the last resort 'CTRL+ALT+DEL' to give up and start over. An engineer named John Vert designed one for Windows NT soon after, and Mr. Chen helped finalize a new one for Windows 95 in 1995. All of them were blue by coincidence, according to a blog post by Mr. Chen. The change to a black screen comes in the wake of last year's outage generated by the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Its software update unintentionally crippled computers using Windows software all around the world, causing disruptions to service for airlines, retail stores and emergency response systems. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNN
27-06-2025
- CNN
Microsoft is retiring the infamous ‘blue screen of death'
The dreaded 'blue screen of death' that has tormented millions of Windows users for decades is being put to rest. Microsoft is ditching the notorious feature that appears on Windows computers in the coming months, 'streamlining the unexpected restart experience' with a new black-colored screen, the company announced in a blog post. The 'simplified' screen that appears during 'unexpected restarts' will roll out later this summer on all Windows 11 devices that use 24H2 operating software. It will also reduce reboots to 'about two seconds for most users,' the company said. Variations of the 'blue screen of death' have been in use since the early 1990s. It started with the 'blue screen of unhappiness' in Windows 3.1 when the control-alt-delete shortcut was added to exit an unresponsive program, along with dialogue written by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. But according to Microsoft employee Raymond Chen, the actual 'blue screen of death' launched in 1993 on Windows NT when the 'system is unrecoverably dead at this point.' Also, a version of the black screen was introduced in 2021 to Windows 11 users. This new iteration has updated dialogue. The blue screen haunted millions of people last July when a massive outage caused by CrowdStrike brought most of the world's technology to its knees and Windows-operated machines displayed the infamous blue.
CNN
27-06-2025
- CNN
Microsoft is retiring the infamous ‘blue screen of death'
The dreaded 'blue screen of death' that has tormented millions of Windows users for decades is being put to rest. Microsoft is ditching the notorious feature that appears on Windows computers in the coming months, 'streamlining the unexpected restart experience' with a new black-colored screen, the company announced in a blog post. The 'simplified' screen that appears during 'unexpected restarts' will roll out later this summer on all Windows 11 devices that use 24H2 operating software. It will also reduce reboots to 'about two seconds for most users,' the company said. Variations of the 'blue screen of death' have been in use since the early 1990s. It started with the 'blue screen of unhappiness' in Windows 3.1 when the control-alt-delete shortcut was added to exit an unresponsive program, along with dialogue written by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. But according to Microsoft employee Raymond Chen, the actual 'blue screen of death' launched in 1993 on Windows NT when the 'system is unrecoverably dead at this point.' Also, a version of the black screen was introduced in 2021 to Windows 11 users. This new iteration has updated dialogue. The blue screen haunted millions of people last July when a massive outage caused by CrowdStrike brought most of the world's technology to its knees and Windows-operated machines displayed the infamous blue.
NBC News
26-06-2025
- NBC News
Microsoft says goodbye to the Windows blue screen of death
It's a bittersweet day for Windows users. Microsoft is scrapping its iconic 'blue screen of death,' known for appearing during unexpected restarts on Windows computers. The company revealed a new black iteration in a blog post on Thursday, saying that it is 'streamlining the unexpected restart experience.' The new black unexpected restart screen is slated to launch this summer on Windows 11 24H2 devices, the company said. Microsoft touted the updates as an 'easier' and 'faster' way to recover from restarts. The software giant's blue screen of death dates back to the early 1990s, according to longtime Microsoft developer Raymond Chen. Microsoft also said it plans to update the user interface to match the Windows 11 design and cut downtime during restarts to two seconds for the majority of users. 'This change is part of a larger continued effort to reduce disruption in the event of an unexpected restart,' Microsoft wrote. The iconic blue screen was seemingly everywhere in July 2024 after a faulty update from CrowdStrike crashed computer systems around the world.
