Who created the 'Blue Screen of Death' on Windows?

The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error is considered a 'legendary' error, known worldwide after the incident appeared on Windows systems on July 19.

When did BSOD appear?

Officially, Microsoft first introduced BSOD on Windows NT 3.1 in 1993 with the name Stop Error. This error causes the Windows operating system to crash with a blue screen and the first word in the message is "STOP".

But the blue screen error appears even earlier than that. Right from the first Beta Release of Windows 1.0, the error screen appeared. At that time, if Windows detects a different DOS version than expected, an error message "Incorrect DOS version" will appear on the screen. In the official release (version 1.01) this feature still exists but a blue screen will display random characters after the text "Incorrect DOS version".

Windows 3.0 uses a text screen to display important system messages, usually errors that prevent the program from running.

Windows 3.1 changed the color of this error message screen from black to blue. When the user presses Ctrl+Alt+Delete to run a simple task manager to exit unresponsive programs, the system also displays a blue screen.

As the Windows operating system becomes more popular, the BSOD error also becomes more known. When a blue screen appears, people often remember the errors "A problem has been detected" or "Fatal System Error." on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 versions.

Cause of blue screen error

According to Mike Walters, co-founder of security company Action1, there are many causes of BSOD, this screen usually indicates a conflict or error at the kernel level. These are particularly difficult to diagnose and repair because they operate at the deepest level of the operating system, where detailed interactions with the hardware take place. However, faulty memory problems or overheating problems can also cause these errors.

BSOD on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 has a lighter blue color, is displayed at a higher resolution than previous Windows versions, and has a sad face with the message "Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn't handle." ".

On Windows 10 and 11, BSOD still has a blue screen interface but is a bit darker, with a QR code. On Windows 11, Microsoft once "killed" the blue screen and replaced it with a "black screen of death" but then returned to the old blue color.

Who created BSOD?

To date, who created BSOD is still a mystery with many different stories. But the story below is most believed by many people about the "father of BSOD".

In 2021, former Microsoft developer Dave Plummer said, "Blue Screen of Death" was actually the work of Microsoft developer John Vert since Windows NT 3.1.

According to Plummer, the Stop error was assigned a blue color because the machine Vert used (MIPS RISC) and his favorite editor at the time (SlickEdit) both had white text on a blue screen.

Kareem Winters

Update 24 July 2024