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Microsoft Tests New 'Green Screen of Death' On Latest Windows 10 Builds (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the gsod? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Windows 10 Insider builds will now feature Green Screen of Death (GSOD) instead of the classic Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error page we have all become accustomed to. The change was teased on Twitter by Matthijs Hoekstra, Senior Program Manager for Windows Enterprise Developer Platform, and spotted by a user that goes by the nickname of Chris123NT. According to Hoekstra, only Windows 10 Insider builds will feature the green error screen, while stable Windows 10 versions will continue to use the classic blue-themed error page. Hoekstra didn't elaborate on the reasons behind the color change, but the color-coded error screens would allow Microsoft support staff to triage bugs and prioritize customers.

142 comments

  1. Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by richrz · · Score: 3, Funny

    They turned it green.

    1. Re: Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They forgot the chlorine and it went scummy.

    2. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In order to be 'Modern' redhat derivatives will soon have systemd-gsod.

    3. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The XBox has had a Green Screen of Death since quite early on. In one of the early demos, it blue-screened while Bill Gates was showing it off. He told the engineers that it must never blue screen again... so they made it green. I suspect that making it green on pre-release versions is simply to make it obvious that it isn't a production version that's crashed. You expect some instability if you're running a testing version and if someone takes photos of it crashing then it's easy to point at and say 'it's green, it's a beta'.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    4. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Green Spew of Doom
      Get Sick or Die
      and countless others.

      Don't MS have anything better to do?
      Like giving us a UI that we can use such as we have in Windows 7?

      No?
      Then I'll not use your spyware then.

    5. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      They turned it green.

      This is the forward-thinking kind of innovation that makes Microsoft so awesome.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    6. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Green Spew of Doom Get Sick or Die and countless others.

      Don't MS have anything better to do?

      Me for an OS that doen't Bluscreen or GreenScreen - just works.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    7. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      Most BSODs now are from Hardware failure, like overclocking/overheating/ram corruption, etc.

    8. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by SurenEnfiajyan · · Score: 0

      Now it's called GSOD

    9. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by hAckz0r · · Score: 1
      After consulting with all the new Trump cabinet members whom are knowledgeable in science, there was a major move by Microsoft to help save the [Ecology]^h^h^h^h^h^h^h Economy. After speaking with their elite scientists on Marketing Hyperbole, not only can Investors now say that Microsoft's "new technology" (NT kernel) is "green", but due to the (now hear this) "actual laws of physics", it is undeniable that using the green wavelength rather than a blue one does actually save electricity! Seeing the number of PC's that are perpetually locked in this state of operation, and turning them off would be completely Un-American, to not burn that coal, Trump is claiming we as a nation now stand to save millions on energy costs every day due to this new Government cost control measure!. "More coal, less Government waste!" is the new mantra.

      .
      And to think some skeptics were going to say Trump's new cabinet was going to be completely techno-phobic and ineffective when it comes to actual "progressive change" and protections for the future [of]^h^h climate change. These guys actually know their physics! Eat Your Words Media! And keep in mind that Trump hasn't even taken office yet! Watch out ISIS!
      /s

    10. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Customer: "Help! There's brown smelly shit leaking from my pipes."

      MS Plumber: "Okay, just a second ... There! Now it's green smelly shit. Fixed!"

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    11. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      15 years ago on the SunRay thin clients we had GLOD - the Green Lizard Of Dead

    12. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea. Ubuntu never bluescreens on me. It just completely locks up every now and then and i have to hard power cycle the box.

    13. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by ckatko · · Score: 1

      If it was Apple, they'd call it a "courageous error logging" to allow for "continuous system improvement."

    14. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      Yeah I get a lockup every month or so on Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04.. Strongly suspect its a bit flip somewhere in my non-ECC 8Gb of ram. Pity the laptop (Dell Precision M4400) doesn't do ECC...

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    15. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      A more appropriate name would be the GDSOD, the god-damned screen of death.

      I don't usually use four-letter words, but in Microsoft's case I always make an exception.

    16. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know who else uses the colour green?

      The Borg.

      QED, checkmate in the bullseye.

    17. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh Drumpf, is there anything that isn't your fault? *smh*

    18. Re: Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bzzzt. Wrong. Those are enthusiasts' problems that the vast majority of users never see.

      Most blue screens these days are from drivers. Especially now with automatic updates and no QC because the user is the tester.

    19. Re: Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Windows 98 was better. You could set you bsod colors. Mine was red text over black background. Much scarier than blue.

    20. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by syntotic · · Score: 1

      It is a MUSLIM attack. Green means marihuana to them, at least, so now whenever there is a failure they will hear: that damned GREEN... and associate the emotion to a plant. To be serious the BSOD should be a BLACK screen. Keep the STANDARD abbreviation! Problem is, to Africans and Indians, GREEN has deleterious and special and occult and hidden meanings we Humans do not pick up but for them are connatural. Oh, this is not a bit of opinion, but hard, acquired knowledge anyone with the right mind frame can observe and test in real life. The motto is to make Microsoft and Windows as disgusting as possible because they should mean USA...

    21. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The above post was hackd with a keeylogger? BLACK BSOD saves even more electricity. I think it is an Arab hacker who posted the previous post. Bad science... we do NOT need to save energy but to spend it so that costs go down on the longer run. Saving energy is only meaningful for portable devices and black or no screen light at all save text is much better.

    22. Re: Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear god, logical explanations on /.?? What the hell is wrong with you? THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

    23. Re:Microsoft finally fixed the BSOD by hawk · · Score: 1

      more often, the able solution is to not crash in the first place . . . :)

      hawk

  2. green color blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so this won't be good for people who are green color blind

    1. Re:green color blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes cause there is no other information on that screen, its just solid green

      what a dipshit

    2. Re:green color blind by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      so this won't be good for people who are green color blind

      Only if it also had red letters... Green and black worked quite well for many years.

    3. Re:green color blind by PingSpike · · Score: 2

      Right, it'll say "Something happened" with a frown emoji. The message will still be crystal clear even to dogs.

    4. Re: green color blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No "the kernal died" message on-screen is ever useful. Windows writes a file to disk if it BSODs with actual useful troubleshooting info.

      I've actually never seen Windows 8/10 do this frowny-face of death, except on preview versions, but they write the same file.

    5. Re: green color blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But what if the cause is a bad disk?

    6. Re:green color blind by magarity · · Score: 1

      It even says right there in the summary that the color changes will help helpdesk triage customers. When some non-technical user calls to complain they can more easily report "the screen is blue" or "the screen is green" than to relay a long string of error codes. So, yes, they should have thought about when a non-technical customer says "I'm blue-green colorblind!"

      Who is the dipshit with the snarky un-thought through answer, exactly?

    7. Re: green color blind by Kaenneth · · Score: 2

      You'll figure that out when you try to read the log file from the disk.

    8. Re:green color blind by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      So, yes, they should have thought about when a non-technical customer says "I'm blue-green colorblind!"

      Who is the dipshit with the snarky un-thought through answer, exactly?

      You.

      There is no blue-green colorblindess. It's either red-green or blue-yellow.

      --

      ---
      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    9. Re:green color blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DUNK!

    10. Re:green color blind by jbengt · · Score: 1

      People affected by tritan color blindness confuse blue with green and yellow with violet.

    11. Re:green color blind by Holi · · Score: 1

      I love when people speak shit with such conviction. It makes reading posts such as yours far more amusing then they deserve to be.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    12. Re:green color blind by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > There is no blue-green colorblindess. It's either red-green or blue-yellow.

      BZZT. Thanks for playing.

      Monochromacy - Sees everything in black and white. Example
      Deuteranopes - Confuse Blue-greens with grey and mid-pinks
      Tritanopes - The most common confusion are light blues with greys, dark purples with black, mid-greens with blues and oranges with reds.
      Protanopia - Confuses some blues with some reds, purples and dark pinks; confuses Mid-greens with some oranges.

    13. Re:green color blind by magarity · · Score: 1

      There is no blue-green colorblindess. It's either red-green or blue-yellow.

      Whoever told you that was mistaken and you never bothered to check.

    14. Re: green color blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only is this a fairly common condition in men, but there are also degrees, particularly in low light conditions. I work in avionics, and the contrast between green and cyan is a tough nut to crack, especially when you consider the age ranges involved and that some missions require NVG. Regardless of product it's good to work with actual users and understand their needs. Do you have any idea how many times my grandmother has "deleted the internet?" If she gave me a color code, that would have expedited things. Don't bash human factors just because being a human might be foreign to you. ;)

    15. Re:green color blind by syntotic · · Score: 1

      There is: Africans cannot discern them well, blue from green. It is the SAME, like for us red and orange are also interchangeable for practical matters. And they are ALSO somewhat like deuteranopes: THEY CANNOT SEE PINK. Like in the phrase: dead hands. They all have dead hands, ie, pink hands seen as a corpse grey or greenish... Ask them, interpret what they reply under this optic (pun unintended but embedded in language).

    16. Re:green color blind by CommanderRyalis · · Score: 1

      Actually that's a linguistic oddity not an issue with colorblindness. In Linguistics there is a principle called Linguistic Relativity that basically says the structure of your language affects the speakers world view. My Linguistics professor explanation is that those tribes had no word for green, thus explained the color as a shade of blue. See Linguistic relativity and the color naming debate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  3. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's some out of the box thinking right there.

    I'd have thought they'd concentrate on fixing their own drivers they broke in anniversary but green? Good call!

    1. Re: Wow by mspohr · · Score: 1

      What's a screen of death?
      I haven't seen this in Linux or OSX.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    2. Re:Wow by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      That's some out of the box thinking right there.

      I'd have thought they'd concentrate on fixing their own drivers they broke in anniversary but green? Good call!

      Probably just a nod to the computing of yesteryear. ;)

    3. Re: Wow by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      On Linux, it's called a kernel panic. On OS X, it is as well but you get a tasteful grey box in the middle of the screen telling you in four languages to reboot the system.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    4. Re: Wow by mspohr · · Score: 1

      Thanks.
      Never seen either on my systems.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    5. Re: Wow by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 0

      On OS X, it is as well but you get a tasteful grey box in the middle of the screen telling you in four languages to reboot the system.

      Which I have seen exactly twice since I started on OS X. BSODS? They are just a regular part of the Windows experience.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re: Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I haven't seen the grey screen on any of my macs since about 2010. It never crashes. I don't even get random slow downs. My iPhone has crashed twice in 2 years. I'll take it considering it was because I ran out of storage both times.

    7. Re: Wow by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      How many third-party drivers do you have installed on your Mac? How many do you have installed on the Windows machines that you see crash regularly?

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    8. Re: Wow by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      How many third-party drivers do you have installed on your Mac? How many do you have installed on the Windows machines that you see crash regularly?

      I haven't counted them, but probably about the same number. The third party thing is interesting though, because Apple writes many/all of their drivers, and Microsoft has decided that it is easier to blame the manufacturers.

      Either way, Windows is unstable, and OSX is not. I don't care who's "fault" it is. Because it is what it is.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    9. Re: Wow by Holi · · Score: 2

      If you are getting constant BSODs you have a piece of bad hardware. It's pretty much a flat out lie now a days to say they are part of the windows experience.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    10. Re: Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In most cases, the kernel is very well adjusted and doesn't panic... Things have to be pretty bad for a Linux kernel to panic...

    11. Re: Wow by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      I just got one on my debian NAS. "kernel panic, not syncing. fatal exception in interrupt." So much for kernel backports.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    12. Re: Wow by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

      OR... A bad driver - take Windows 10 (PLEASE!!) with Nvidia video, where you WANT to use the latest driver from Nvidia, but Windows 10/Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom want you to only use the craptacular "Nvidia" driver that is provided by WindowsUpdate. Said craptacular driver blows frequent BSOD's with the blame directed right back at that craptacular video driver. You can play whack-a-mole and keep trying to install the good driver from Nvidia and WU will keep taking it off and putting the craptacular one back on, until you get the brilliant idea to stop the WU service (if you're on Win10Pro..).. The alledged switch that supposedly tells Windows to keep its $#@#% mitts OFF your drivers, apparently does not work.. Sooooo flippin' glad I don't have to use Windows anymore as a daily driver.....

      --
      THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    13. Re: Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not fair if you're not a regular user of the OS. I've been doing embedded work for years with Win7 and the only BSODs I've experienced have been with shitty USB to 232 adapters. I understand they have a quality processes but regardless, things slip through.

      And before you get on the anti MS train I've done plenty of Linux dev and the kernel panics are even more frequent. Its great in theory that I can fix them, but I have a damn job to do, and it's not kernel maintenance.

    14. Re: Wow by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      If you are getting constant BSODs you have a piece of bad hardware. It's pretty much a flat out lie now a days to say they are part of the windows experience.

      Yeah, and everyone else. What you just made is the age old assertion that any problem yu have is the fault of anything else but Windows. I have a few, and the people who come to me have a number of them.

      They are all so damn stupid. I've been working hard to move them to OS' where they aren't so stupid. Lying? Mebbe. Can't think of a reason why though.

      But Windows is exceptionally brittle, and people in here act like it is exactly how working with a computer is supposed to be.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  4. stable Windows 10 versions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    stable Windows 10 versions
    will continue to use the classic blue-themed error page

    choose.

    1. Re:stable Windows 10 versions by gweihir · · Score: 2

      There are stable versions of Windows 10? Oh, right, they mean versions where the spying on user activities and data works reliably.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:stable Windows 10 versions by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Those are the NSA-approved builds

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  5. Rainbow of Failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    In another 90 years, they'll have run out of the visible spectrum, and we'll get the Ultra-Violet Screen of Death.

    1. Re:Rainbow of Failure by TWX · · Score: 1

      Sounds real horrorshow. Viddy well, brothers! Viddy well!

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:Rainbow of Failure by Holi · · Score: 2

      That will be for hardware errors only, software errors will have an infrared screen o' death. It will be great for the blind as they will be able to feel the error.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    3. Re:Rainbow of Failure by Nunya666 · · Score: 1

      In another 90 years, they'll have run out of the visible spectrum, and we'll get the Ultra-Violet Screen of Death.

      In another 90 years, MS will be a distant memory.

    4. Re:Rainbow of Failure by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      Holi, I noticed your sig and it made me wonder...

      "Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy."

      So does that mean that gingers pass through unchanged?

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    5. Re:Rainbow of Failure by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      That will be for hardware errors only, software errors will have an infrared screen o' death. It will be great for the blind as they will be able to feel the error.

      The liberal ones will feel the Bern.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re: Rainbow of Failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I sure hope Microsoft get shutdown before they get to Gamma screen of death which would literally be a melt down.

    7. Re:Rainbow of Failure by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      People keptnsaying IBM would go away, not for 90 years, but I've been hearing it for 20.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    8. Re: Rainbow of Failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "There hasn't been a transporter accident in 50 years Reg." - Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

    9. Re:Rainbow of Failure by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Please. Let's go past ultra-violet and get to plaid.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    10. Re:Rainbow of Failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean infra-red (and all that that implies). They started blue and headed toward longer wavelengths. Please turn in your nerd card.

    11. Re:Rainbow of Failure by haruchai · · Score: 1

      In another 90 years, they'll have run out of the visible spectrum, and we'll get the Ultra-Violet Screen of Death.

      In another 90 years, MS will be a distant memory.

      I wonder if anyone in the late 19th century thought that National Cash Register and Tabulating Machine companies would last over 100 years
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    12. Re:Rainbow of Failure by santiago · · Score: 1

      The Ultra-Violet Screen of Death is your friend the Computer's means to humanely euthanize Citizens who exceed their security clearance.

    13. Re:Rainbow of Failure by MercTech · · Score: 1

      I was thinking that a green screen of death was an allusion to Win10 being rotten at the core. .... tongue firmly in cheek.

      --
      NRRPT/RCT
  6. Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because god forbid they actually give us informative error messages. We might figure out how Windows works!

    1. Re:Color coded errors by TWX · · Score: 2

      I used to agree with you. Honestly I did.

      Then I realized that the vast majority of users were not going to read what was on the screen. Even if the Helpdesk person asked them what the error said they were not going to be able to provide any useful feedback. Hell, users used to be instructed to call-in when the antivirus software popped up, and even then we couldn't get useful info, half of the time they thought "Win32" was the name of the virus as part of "Win32/..."

      Forget about getting the user to find on that field of text the actual name of the process or executable that generated the fault.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Surely you're not so stupid as to think an operating system should remove information that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator. . . . . right?

    3. Re:Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are pissed because people that are calling your help desk don't understand how computers work?

      1) People that call help desk don't have a fucking clue how a computer works. That is WHY they are calling the help desk. Expecting them to understand what string of characters in a sea of text is important is stupid on your part, not theirs. It is your job to help find them find the important text so you can help. If they already understand it all they wouldn't need to call you, FFS.

      2) You are a help desk jockey - clearly you are not top notch material yourself

    4. Re:Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So Win32 isn't a virus?

    5. Re:Color coded errors by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      No, the Virus is call system32, I'm sure you can find instructions on removing it online.

    6. Re:Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So? Why should the vast majority even get to enforce their own helplessness on one intelligent person? Are you even aware of what you're advocating here? If it just helps ONE person get curious and learn programming, or fix their problem, or whatever, it's worth (not really) inconveniencing all the people who, as you say, are simply ignoring it anyway, as in, to them it doesn't matter either way. It's no shame having worked for MS, it's mental death to have drank the kool-aid.

    7. Re:Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lots of IT staff started off as help desk, including some very top notch ones.

    8. Re:Color coded errors by haruchai · · Score: 1

      No, the Virus is call system32, I'm sure you can find instructions on removing it online.

      Or toss it and upgrade to system76 - https://system76.com/

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    9. Re:Color coded errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is the 20-30GB of crap that comes in the system folders? Not only windows but even linux? The files this big that I am familiar with are only hi-res video files. So what crap of data are these 20-30 GB? Has computing got so complicated or the system developers gotten that sloppy?

    10. Re:Color coded errors by fisted · · Score: 1

      Maybe it is whatever crap you have installed? Ask your package manager who a particularly large directory or file belongs to.
      System folder my ass.

      --
      CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
  7. I like Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I hate Windows. I wish they would just make MS Linux or something like OSX and port their software to it.

  8. This has been a thing for a long time by TWX · · Score: 1

    There was a registry tweak to change the color of the Screen of Death. I always liked setting it to the Fuschia Screen of Death. Though we did joke about the Chartreuse Screen of Death, so I guess Microsoft listened to that particular suggestion instead...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? A screen that is displayed if memory corruption or a hardware error or kernel fault occurs is going to zip off to the registry to try to read its desired colour from a key somewhere?

      I doubt that. I'm sure it's hardcoded in a binary somewhere. And if it isn't, the MS engineers responsible need to be told to keep it simple, stupid.

    2. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by hey! · · Score: 1

      It used to be a setting in SYSTEM.INI; back in the NT4 days you got BSOD so frequently it was worth changing the color just to add a little variety to your day.

      It probably still is in SYSTEM.INI; I'd check but it's been years since I've had a Windows machine.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re: This has been a thing for a long time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The kernel reads in the setting at boot up. The reason it was added was so they could change the color on server versions.

    4. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      I doubt that. I'm sure it's hardcoded in a binary somewhere.

      I would hate to see your programs. I bet you call all your variables a,b,c,i and x too right? There is zero difference in performance if a program loads a value into a variable at program initialization versus being assigned a value during a function call. Pretty sure that the color of the crash screen is not assigned only when a fault condition is detected but rather forms part of a whole range of data that Windows carries around in memory once it loads.

      MS engineers responsible need to be told to keep it simple, stupid.

      Oh I see what the problem is. You're just not familiar with Microsoft and its products.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    5. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by Holi · · Score: 1

      Are you ok with being wrong all the time. I mean you just stated your belief with such conviction while at the same time being so completely wrong. I mean this has been a thing for almost 20 years. (since at least 2000, not sure about NT4)

      https://www.petri.com/change_b...

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    6. Re: This has been a thing for a long time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But but but he was so convincing. Shirley it's in a binary blob somewhere with the variable name a.

    7. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by TWX · · Score: 1

      That might have been it. Now that I look back on it I haven't done it in close to 20 years. It was a fun thing to mess with before I discovered Linux.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    8. Re: This has been a thing for a long time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Correct. Sysinternals has a tool to set the color on 7 and older.

    9. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. RAM access is slow and disk access is even slower. Real programmers just loads their stuff into those cpu registers for faster performance.
      OP was implying that loading/reading stuff from win registry is slower than by just embedding the values directly into a binary, especially if you've coded it to just touch the registers. I think I now understood the reason for slow boot-up of windows machines since Windows 95, it is because of reading all the variables from that bloated win registry into RAM when most of those variables won't even be used. Why initialize a variable if you're not going to use it? Is this the reason why my Win10 consumes 1.6 GiB of RAM after a fresh install? Contrast that to Win 2000 which just uses 60 MB with sound drivers, network card, and graphics drivers already loaded. Almost similar in security but Win10 is too bloated.

    10. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      when most of those variables won't even be used.

      Critical things - like how to handle a crash state - are ALWAYS loaded because you never know when you'll crash. Non critical things like perhaps your printer driver or some exotic font can be loaded later if there's a need and/or relegated to some paged memory.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    11. Re:This has been a thing for a long time by odysseus_complex · · Score: 1

      Back in the day there was a product from VentureCom that added a real-time HAL to Windows NT. It used a green screen of death to differentiate between crashes due to Windows and those due to RTX.

  9. What, they have nothing important to fix??? by gweihir · · Score: 1

    MS has always been a collection of incompetent, arrogant morons, but this is getting ridiculous.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  10. Godzilla by LordKronos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Green screen? Like the video production technique? I welcome error screens that allow us to composite in Godzilla destroying our unsaved documents.

  11. Ha! I'm red/green color blind by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    no more crashes for me. I hope rest of you yahoos with your working rods and cones enjoy your crashtastic computers.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  12. IE -> Edge, BSOD -> GSOD by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    Same as IE. Only the color changes.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  13. go green! by kiviQr · · Score: 1

    Microsoft is becoming Green! - nice PR move.

    1. Re:go green! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Going green by encouraging people to dump their old hardware because it can't handle the bloated Win10?

  14. Did anybody else read that as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gee, SOD !

  15. Hoekstra? We ain't no Apple users. by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    We don't care what color you paint the turd. Fix the security and privacy problems your system has, until you do this, color us unimpressed.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  16. If they weren't stupid, it would BSOD at all by raymorris · · Score: 1

    > A screen that is displayed if memory corruption or a hardware error or kernel fault occurs is going to zip off to the registry to try to read its desired colour from a key somewhere? ...
    > the MS engineers responsible need to be told to keep it simple, stupid.

    If MS engineers were smart, most of us wouldn't ever seen a BSOD. QED they are not smart, and do stuff like putting this in the registry, a binary blob of everything.

  17. What about the WiFi bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    All colors aside, but when are they gonna fix that WiFi - DHCP bug already....

  18. Purple by darkain · · Score: 1

    I prefer PURPLE thank you very much! https://www.google.com/search?...

  19. Been Green Before by CharlieG · · Score: 1

    Back before Windows 3.1 (Yes, I was running windows then, in fact I was on the 3.1 beta) there were no GPFs, they WERE UAEs (unrecoverable application errors). The screen was green

    BTW, there was actually a joke on the Beta forums, when one of the Devs said "I promise you will NEVER get another UAE, but that is because we renamed them GPFs"

    --
    -- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
  20. Changing the colors is not enough. by roovis · · Score: 1

    Just make 'em theme-able. Sell themed crash screens on the Windows store for 99 cents.

    1. Re:Changing the colors is not enough. by PPH · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sell advertising space?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  21. Re:Next up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rainbow screen option for fags

    The gay screen of death

  22. Stable? by organgtool · · Score: 1

    Windows 10 Insider builds will feature the green error screen, while stable Windows 10 versions will continue to use the classic blue-themed error page

    I think that's setting the bar pretty low for the term "stable".

  23. You have to admit by mridoni · · Score: 1

    In terms of innovation, it still beats rounded corners

  24. BSODs are still a thing? by Harold+Halloway · · Score: 1

    I've not seen one in many years. Still, haters gonna hate.

  25. Microsoft's so innovative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While other Operating System developers strive to make their OS more fault tolerant, Microsoft realized no one else is breaking ground in the creative space of kernel panic screens. Stare in wonder as your machines crash to an all new color. Microsoft will continue this revolution as each new dot release offers a different color of the spectrum.

  26. How about details by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

    Windows 7 was so awesome ... Well for Windows I guess and MS threw it away.

    The bsod have a silly scan code WTF and no details. On 7/XP you see something like Nvidia.dll caused X etc. Great so we know whats caused it. Win 10 a silly scan code like I have a scanner on hand and a 0xo457ef7, ox05e. No more details!

    At home I have to install the bloated windows SDK just for windbg.Exe. At work I am helpless! God I hate Win 10 in many ways. Fix it

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
  27. Insider builds only by maestroX · · Score: 1

    As article summary says, traditional BSOD will remain (though with less info than WinXP) on released builds, green on insider only. I don't know what the fuss is about

  28. Its called INNOVATION... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now in easy to see GREEN.

    Still crashes.
    Still has virus infections.
    Still sucks your data.

  29. LOL by dschiptsov · · Score: 0

    I could probably write the same bullshit memo their paid consultants from psychology department wrote, about using natural, positive colors, and to shift away from already iconic sign of annoyance and failure. Lots of Windows 95/98 (and up to Vista) users are still alive and well to remember the time when it crashed few times per day and thousands of those trojans and viruses, so one have to reinstall the system once in a week.

  30. Green means go as go ahead and reboot testers by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Green means go as go ahead and reboot testers

  31. PC ran into a problem by suman28 · · Score: 2

    First, my PC is quite stationary. The first thing I did when I stood up my PC was to chop off its legs, so it can't run into anything including problems. Second of all, if my PC has issues, why does Microsoft recommend that I restart? I strongly feel that it should be my computer that restarts to resolve problems

  32. Is nothing sacred!? by linear+a · · Score: 1

    Is nothing sacred!?

  33. Something... by matbury · · Score: 1

    :( Something happened.

  34. Re:IE - Edge, BSOD - GSOD by CannonballHead · · Score: 1

    Edge is definitely not the same as IE. I am still running into things that work in Edge and fail in IE. And a few the other way around, but not with regard to javascript or css support.

  35. Catching the 1985 version of Amiga OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It only took 32 years. Well done Microsoft. Still many features remaining far superior on a 80s home computer that a current generation PC with Windows 10 can't even dream to do. So, can we have a datatypes system next, please? A fucking working ram drive? Can we get rid of spyware, too?

    Sticking to Windows 7, thanks. For the extra fun factor, try Amiga OS and Morph OS.

  36. The Ultimate Personalization by Justt+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

    Think about it::
    Choose your own custom Screen of Death color. They can add a setting under Personalization to make it match your Desktop (Or another check box to make it use an accent color).

    And now.... * POOF * ... The BSOD becomes an upgrade. It's not that their software sucks or is crashing, they were actually adding another feature feature the whole time and they just now reached the final version..

    Gosh, I guess they were thinking about us the whole time, huh?

  37. A typically Microsoft contradiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ignoring yet another revolutionary advance in Windows, how is this possible? "while stable Windows 10 versions will continue to use the classic blue-themed error page" Seeriously? If it was stable nobody would ever see the BSOD or GSOD or any other SOD.

  38. April 1st already? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this REALLY news for nerds, stuff that matters?

    WTH here really cares about this?

  39. Still necessary... by hackel · · Score: 1

    God forbid they design a decent operating system that doesn't need a "screen of death" in the first place. No, why would anyone want that? The fact that there are still people using Windows in this day and age truly boggles the mind.

  40. Groundbreaking by Fieryphoenix · · Score: 1

    I applaud Microsoft for having the courage to move on and do something new that betters all of us.

  41. Replace Error Handling With the Guru by Pauldow · · Score: 1

    Maybe some day they'll put in an advanced error handling utility like the Amiga Guru Meditation.

  42. Orange is the new Black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looking forward to the Paisley Screen Of Death

  43. Next step... by hyades1 · · Score: 1

    No doubt Microsoft's next move will be an attempt to convince people it's just a screen saver.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    1. Re:Next step... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to have the BSOD screensaver. It was funny.

  44. How about by khelms · · Score: 1

    http://recruitingdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/05/tumblr_static_hal_malfunction.gif

  45. It makes sense by stikves · · Score: 1

    This will allow customer service to know whether you were running a production build (blue), versus a test one (green). This kind of techniques are used in many companies, and while test build issues are important, they are not as high priority as production ones.

  46. Re:IE - Edge, BSOD - GSOD by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    Are we talking about the latest IE (11?)

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  47. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, but what shade of green is it? Shamrock green? Or, more of a chartreuse?

    You can bet there was at least one, three-hour meeting with at least 20 people in attendance to make the decision to change the xSOD color.

  48. X-Ray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Might I recommend the X-Ray Screen of Death?

    BSODs are caused by bugs. X-Rays kill bugs. Man, I am good at this! Microsoft should pay me for this stuff, it's gold!!