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Steve Ballmer Authored the Windows 3.1 Ctrl-Alt-Del Screen

Posted by timothy on from the and-he-approved-this-message dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes According to Microsoft developer Raymond Chen, Steve Ballmer didn't like the original text that accompanied the Ctrl-Alt-Del screen in Windows 3.1, so he wrote up a new version. If you used Windows at any point in the past two decades, you can thank him for that infuriatingly passive 'This Windows application has stopped responding to the system' message, accompanied by the offer to hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete again to restart the PC (and lose all your unsaved data). Update: 09/09 15:30 GMT by S : Changed headline and summary to reflect that Ballmer authored the Ctrl-Alt-Del screen, not the BSoD, as originally stated.

2 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Amiga by marcello_dl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If a system can display an error message, it is not messed up enough.

    --
    ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  2. I miss the BSOD by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd rather get some cryptic information about stop codes or an error message than a condescending sad face accompanied by a reboot request. At least I can look up the code and get a ballpark idea what the issue is without firing up windbg.