Crowdstrike Fiasco and Blue Screen Nightmare

The Crowdstrike fiasco that emerged in July caused millions of Windows PCs worldwide to freeze and display blue screen errors. Today’s new generation of PC users may not remember the ‘blue screen’ nightmare very well; however, this ‘error screen’ was once one of the biggest fears of Windows users.

The blue screen encountered by Bill Gates, the founder and former CEO of Microsoft, during a press launch introducing their newly developed Windows, has become one of the most iconic moments in Microsoft’s history. This screen that appeared with the crash of Windows was almost forgotten with Windows 10. However, thanks to the issues caused by Crowdstrike, the world has been reminded of this old nightmare.

An experienced Microsoft Windows developer, Raymond Chen, wrote a blog post titled “Despite what some may want you to believe, there is no mystery about who wrote the Blue Screen of Death” in his ‘The Old New Thing’ corner on Microsoft’s DevBlogs site this week. In this article, he shared interesting details about the history of the blue screen.

Authors of the Blue Screen

In his article, Chen provided more information about Windows’ blue screen, also known as the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). He stated: “No matter what, there has been a 30-year mystery claim surrounding Microsoft’s Blue Screen of Death. According to this claim, there are three conflicting sources: Steve Ballmer, John Vert, and myself. However, there is actually no conflict. Three different blue screens were used throughout Windows history, and each was written by a different author.“

Thus, Chen admitted that he was also responsible for this error screen that became a nightmare for Windows users, while also indicating that his accomplices were Steve Ballmer and John Vert. This statement seems to have put an end to years of ongoing debates.