In a recent entry on his Old New Thing blog, veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen addressed the longstanding curiosity surrounding the origins of the notorious Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Contrary to popular belief, the story behind this infamous screen is less of a mystery and more of a whimsical tale from the early days of Windows.
The Early Days of Windows Error Screens
It was Steve Ballmer who penned the text for the Windows 3.1x BSOD, a moment Chen humorously referred to as the “blue screen of unhappiness.” This designation stems from the fact that the screen primarily served as a warning sign indicating that an application was misbehaving rather than a catastrophic system failure. In fact, a true crash in Windows 3.1x would typically result in a black screen of death, presenting users with a command prompt—if they were fortunate enough to see it.
With the advent of Windows 95, the landscape of error screens evolved. The final version of the kernel error screen was crafted by Chen himself. Although it could be classified as a blue screen of death, Chen pointed out that Windows 95 allowed users the option to ignore the error, making it less of a definitive “death” for the system. However, he acknowledged that choosing to ignore the error did not guarantee a stable operating environment.
The NT Kernel and Its Evolution
Turning to the Windows NT kernel, the error screen was authored by John Vert. When this particular screen appears, it typically signifies that recovery is unlikely. Nevertheless, it provides a wealth of diagnostic information that engineers can utilize to decipher the underlying issues plaguing the operating system.
Over the years, subsequent iterations of Windows NT have refined the data presented on these screens, continuing to evolve right up to the present day. This evolution has kept the BSOD relevant, even as its frequency diminished until recent events.
Changing Terminology and Design Choices
Retired Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer shared an interesting tidbit: during his tenure at Microsoft, the term “blue screen of death” was rarely used. Instead, it was commonly referred to simply as a “blue screen” or, more often, a “bug-check.” Plummer also shed light on the design choice of white text on a blue background, explaining that it was a nod to Vert’s development machine, a MIPS RISC box, which featured a similar color scheme. Additionally, Vert’s preferred text editor, SlickEdit, defaulted to white on blue, creating a cohesive aesthetic for coding, crashing, and everything in between.
Until the CrowdStrike incident, the BSOD had become increasingly rare, typically surfacing only during the use of pre-production software, unreliable drivers, or problematic hardware. However, this incident brought the bug-check screens back into the limelight, making them familiar to users once more.
As for the origins of the BSOD, the narrative is well-documented, provided your own PC has not succumbed to a BSOD itself.
