In a significant departure from a nearly 40-year visual tradition, Microsoft has announced plans to replace the iconic Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with a new Black Screen of Death in future updates to Windows 11. It lacks the famous sad smiley along with the QR code image.
According to Microsoft, the updated screen will adopt a simplified black design - reminiscent of the interface seen during Windows updates - while retaining essential diagnostic details such as the stop code and the faulty system driver, where applicable. This will reduce the need for IT administrators to manually analyze crash dumps using tools like WinDbg to identify root causes.
David Weston, Vice President of Enterprise and OS Security at Microsoft, explains that this redesign is aligned with company's policy of transparency and actionable feedback during system failures. In an interview with The Verge, Weston noted that the update is intended to "provide better information and allow us and customers to get to the core of the issue faster," enabling more efficient troubleshooting and resolution.
The new Black Screen of Death will be introduced alongside the Quick Machine Recovery feature later this summer. Quick Machine Recovery is designed to help you quickly restore the OS that fails to boot properly.
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