The Windows 11 Black Screen of Death will become blue again

Windows 11 hasn’t had the smoothest of launches. Ever since the release, every patch Tuesday has been packed with a long list of bug fixes, tweaks and updates. Ars Technica took the time to read through a (very long) changelog for a build that will be released into the preview channel and found this little bit:

We changed the screen color to blue when a device stops working or a stop error occurs as in previous versions of Windows.

Anyone that has spent time with a PC knows the Blue Screen of Death feeling all too well. Something went very wrong! Most gamers have likely experienced BSOD’s thanks to a problem with a device driver, an aggressive overclock or faulty hardware.

For some reason, Microsoft chose to change the traditional blue screen to a black screen in Windows 11. Apparently, it never said why it made the change, but the reasoning is likely as simple as introducing another way to make Windows 11 feel ‘new’ along with the rest of the UI overhaul. Perhaps just as puzzling is why it’s chosen to revert back to the blue screen. Did users give feedback to Microsoft asking for the reversion? ‘Hey Microsoft, I want my crashes blue!’ Blue screen nostalgia is a thing apparently.

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The Blue Screen of Death is a part of the Windows experience. Its origins go back as far as Windows 1.0. It has evolved over the years with the addition of debugging and QR codes that can help users determine the cause of a problem. Later Windows versions added a sad face emoticon, as if the feeling of shock and dread when your screen flashes to that damned blue wasn’t enough.

If you haven't made the move to Windows 11, check out our review. Though its far from perfect, Microsoft is making it better. Not that you want to see it, but Windows Update will include the ‘new’ blue screen in a public release in the near future, likely within weeks.

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.