Update: According to The Verge, Microsoft will finalize the transition to the new Black Screen of Death for current Windows 11 users “later this summer.” Microsoft It’s not just the color.

Why change the blue screen to black now? Did the viral images of Times Square rendered useless by the BSOD cause that much reputational harm?

In April 2025, Microsoft announced that the Blue Screen of Death would become the Black Screen of Death. At least the abbreviation (BSOD) still fits. Microsoft said this change would be introduced ...

The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) has served as something of a Grim Reaper for Windows users since the 1980s.

The blue screen that stressed computer users for more than three decades is giving way to a black one.

Nearly every Windows user has had a run in with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” at some point in their computing life. Now, after more than 40-years of being set against a very ...

The software giant’s blue screen of death dates to the early 1990s, according to longtime Microsoft developer Raymond Chen.

It usually happens to your computer right in the middle of something important: The dreaded Microsoft Windows blue error screen. Now Microsoft is retiring the blue ...

Microsoft's iconic Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is dead after 40 years. RIP to the most panic-inducing screen a Windows user can encounter. Now, get ready to fear the Black Screen of Death.

Windows' Blue Screen of Death to get a makeover with a black background, simplified UI, and quick machine recovery features.

We're all familiar with the Windows BSOD, but Microsoft is now making it simpler in appearance—and getting rid of the iconic blue color in the process.