We're all familiar with the Windows BSOD, but Microsoft is now making it simpler in appearance—and getting rid of the blue. By Laura Pippig and Michael Crider Jun 26, 2025 10:06 am PDT ...

The original blue screen, which also featured a sad-face emoticon, has been around for about 40 years. Windows users will now see a plain black screen and the words: "Your device ran into a ...

Windows Microsoft says Black Screen of Death better 'aligns with Windows 11's visual style' - but I think the new crash screen is missing a key detail Windows Forget the Blue Screen of Death ...

Image Credits:Windows (opens in a new window) This change is related to other updates that Windows is making in the wake of the CrowdStrike outage last year, which affected 8.5 million Windows ...

A Windows system crash with a blue screen is always due to a driver or the hardware. It can also be a driver that is not directly related to the hardware, such as a virus scanner component.

Why change the blue screen to black now? Did the viral images of Times Square rendered useless by the BSOD cause that much reputational harm?

Microsoft shipped its Windows 8 operating system in October, but the company is planning to update it in a big way with codename Blue. Designed for new hardware, including 7- and 8-inch devices ...

The infamous Blue Screen of Death — oft-shortened to BSOD — is changing, and many fans aren’t happy with its new look. While seeing the BSOD was never a good thing, the long-time version ...

Hell, even Windows 3.1 lets you set a desktop background, and thanks to a number of free utilities, so will Windows 7 Starter. There are many workarounds online, but we recommend the one provided ...

With Windows Blue, a k a Windows 8.1, Microsoft is re-introducing a Start Button and adding a boot-straight-to-desktop option. Here's how these may work.

The leak also reveals an unused version of Bloom, by user Xeno, a wallpaper later used in the final version of Windows 11, which can be seen within the Get Started app of the early build.

If you're not a fan of Microsoft's new default wallpaper -- a blooming, abstract flower shape that pays homage to Windows 10's royal blue colors -- you can change it up. Windows 11 has other ...