RIP Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) with Windows 11

Mention the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), and chances are everyone in the vicinity will let out a groan.

Too many are the times where you were rushing out work or fighting game bosses, only to have the accursed error display pop up and informing you of a forced restart. Cue frustration, swears, and in some cases, even tears.

With the impending arrival of Windows 11, it seems that the dreaded experience is coming in a different form – well, sort of. In lieu of a blue display, users will be facing a Black Screen of Death that matches the new login and shutdown screens (via The Verge), while fitting into its existing ‘BSOD’ acronym.

The colour is the only facet that has been changed, however. The familiar ASCII sad face will still be there to mock you, alongside the error logs and QR code, the latter of which was implemented back in 2016.

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First introduced in Windows 3.0, the BSOD has been a staple for IT professionals and support personnel to locate and identify hardware faults.

It’s unclear why Microsoft has decided to switch up the colour, but it seems to have something to do with the company’s intent to overhaul its OS elements for a more modern touch.

With the facelift, the display does look a little like the Dark Mode of Windows in general.

And while nobody will look forward to the BSOD, there are other features to enjoy in the Windows 11 upgrade. In addition to a new Xbox App, users can look forward to support for selected Android apps, Microsoft Teams integration, and a redesigned Windows Store – among others.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.