Microsoft to give Windows 11’s blue screen of death a makeover

The new error message in Windows 11 24H2 build

Microsoft is making several changes to the 'blue screen of death' in Windows 11. The blue screen of death is the error message-on-a-blue-background that appears on Windows devices when they run into issues. The redesigned error message is part of the changes introduced to the new version of Windows 11 that will be released first for those registered in the Windows Insider program.

Announcing the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653 in a blog post, the Redmond-based tech giant said:

“We’re previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts, which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders, this appears as a “green screen”. This is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.”

The blue screen is gone, the frowning face has been removed, there’s no QR code this time and the error message is shorter now. The trimmed message will now be: “Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart.” In the preview version, the reworked error message is displayed on a green background. Microsoft is yet to decide on the final color choice. As per a report by Windows Latest, the green screen will make way for a black screen in the final version.

Quick machine recovery and speech recap in Narrator

Microsoft also announced two new features for the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653 (Beta Channel): quick machine recovery and speech recap in Narrator.

The quick machine recovery feature is designed to address “widespread boot issues on Windows 11 devices by automatically detecting and applying fixes directly from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)”.

The speech recap in Narrator allows people to “access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts”. For example, if you wish to save or share something Narrator just said, use the combination of Narrator key + Control + X . It will copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard.