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 recognizable blue, the updated error message soon will be displayed across a black background.
The changes to the notorious error screen are part of Microsoft's broader efforts to  of the Windows operating system in the wake of , which crashed millions of Windows machines worldwide.
"Now it's easier than ever to navigate unexpected restarts and recover faster," Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft wrote in a Wednesday announcement.
As part of that effort, Microsoft says it's "streamlining" what users experience when encountering "unexpected restarts" that cause disruptions. That includes a makeover to the infamous error screen.
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Beyond the now-black background, Windows' new "screen of death" has a slightly shorter message. It's also no longer accompanied by a frowning face — and instead shows a percentage completed for the restart process.
Microsoft says this "simplified" user interface for unexpected restarts will be available later this summer on all of its Windows 11 (version 24H2) devices.
For PCs that may not restart successfully, Microsoft also said Wednesday that it will add a "quick machine recovery" mechanism. The will be particularly useful for during a widespread outage, the tech giant noted, as Microsoft "can broadly deploy targeted remediations" and automate fixes with this new mechanism "without requiring complex manual intervention from IT."
Microsoft said this quick machine recovery also will be "generally available" later this summer on Window 11 — with additional capabilities set to launch later in the year.
