Windows 11 could spell the end of the Blue Screen of Death
The Blue Screen of Death is iconic among Windows users -- although not necessarily in a good way. Indicative of something having gone terribly wrong, a BSoD (as it is often called) is not something you particularly want to see when you're using your computer.
And with the arrival of Windows 11, the Blue Screen of Death may indeed be no more. But before you get too excited, this is not quite the good news you're hoping for. Sadly, Microsoft has not found a way to stop Windows crashing.
See also:
- Windows 11 Home will need a Microsoft account, but Pro won't
- Windows 11 is making important changes to the way system updates work
- Check whether your computer can be upgraded to Windows 11 using Win11SysCheck
While the Blue Screen of Death may soon be a thing of the past, it does not mean that BSoDs are gone forever; the only thing that's changing is the color of the screen.
Switching from blue to black means that not only will these error message screen match the color of Windows' logon and shutdown screens, but also that the BSoD acronym remains valid. A nickname that references the Black Death is almost certainly going to crop up at some point, however.
As noted by the Verge, the color change is the only difference between the old BSoD and the new one.
The change is not yet visible in the preview build of Windows 11, although the new Black Screen of Death can be enabled with a registry hack. If you're interested in changing the color, Tom's Hardware provides the details you need:
- Launch the Registry Editor
- Navigate to HKLM \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ CrashControl
- Setting the value of DisplayPreRelaseColor to 0
Image credit: Tom's Hardware