Windows 8 gets a new 'Blue Screen of Death'

Even the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) will be getting a makeover in the upcoming latest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system Windows 8. The notorious BSOD —lines of code on a blue background, an all-too-familiar sight for Windows users during a crash— now takes the form of a “sad" emoticon with an error message. “Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn't handle, and now it needs to restart," read the text on the new BSOD, screenshots of which were posted on enthusiast site WinRumors. A line of smaller text under the message offers hints of what went wrong, while another line of text at the bottom shows how many seconds are left before the PC restarts. Citing the latest Windows 8 developer preview build, WinRumors said the "typical full page of information with STOP codes and detailed hardware or software error details" has been removed. It added early leaked builds of Windows 8 included a black screen of death with similar information on the status of why a machine crashed. Microsoft has used the BSOD since early copies of Windows 1.0 in 1985. The revamped BSOD has made a fan of tech site Mashable, which lauded it for being clearer and more user-friendly. “We’re fans of the new error screen — it’s much clearer and more user-friendly — though we hope there’ll be fewer chances to see it," it said. — TJD, GMA News