RIP BSOD: Windows 11 could be getting black screen of death

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Update: Microsoft is bringing the BSOD back to Windows 11 .

It could be the end of an era: The Verge reported that Microsoft could exist turning the famous blue screen of death (BSOD) black when Windows 11 launches.

While the acronym volition remain the same in such a circumstance, the blue color for serious errors has been a office of Microsoft'south operating organization since Windows 3.0 in 1990. So this would be quite a big change for the visitor.

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It would as well be a slightly foreign one, given nothing else on the screen is said to be dissimilar. There will still be the same emoticon sad face up, first seen in 2012 with Windows 8, and the QR code giving you more data on the error which debuted in 2016 will as well be present.

Only the color is reportedly set to change and no explanation has been given. It could simply be to try and make the screen lucifer the startup and shutdown colors, although it would exist odd to make an alert designed to describe attention alloy in more. Another possibility is that information technology'south simply something to brand Windows xi stand up apart from Windows 10, given the two take so much shared Deoxyribonucleic acid, and at that place are already plenty of cosmetic changes itinerant.

If you have the current Windows xi preview build installed, you'll likely still be seeing blue screens, as our sis site Tom's Hardware notes. However, our colleagues were able to instigate the change early, should you want to go a taste of what may be alee.

The change, commencement spotted by @XenoPanther on Twitter, can be enabled via a simple registry edit, tested past Tom'due south Hardware.

Via regedit, navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Command\CrashControl and set up the value of DisplayPreReleaseColor to 0. Restart, and the next time your PC encounters a critical mistake, you'll be seeing blackness rather than blue.

If you don't have the new operating system yet, just can't wait to give it a go, you tin can try it right at present, assuming you have the required hardware. If y'all need assist, here'south how to install Windows eleven.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine besides. When not weighing upward the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games excess. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth fourth dimension.