Recent reports indicate that a CrowdStrike update caused 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide to experience blue screen crashes, prompting more inquiry into the origins of the Windows system’s blue screen of death (BSOD).
Senior developer Raymond Chen, in his column “The Old New Thing” on Microsoft’s DevBlogs website, revealed the mysterious origins of the Windows BSOD.
Who originally wrote the blue screen interface? The answers include Steve Ballmer, John Vert, and Raymond Chen.
In summary, these three individuals developed three versions, with Ballmer initially writing the blue screen text for the Windows 3.1 system.
| System | Author | Year of Release |
|---|---|---|
| Windws 3.1 | Steve Ballmer (Text Part) | 1992 |
| Windows NT | John Vert | 1993 |
| Window 95 | Raymond Chen | 1995 |
01
Windows 3.1
On Windows 3.1, users triggered a blue screen interface by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del, described humorously by Chen as the “unhappy blue screen.” This action helped pause the Windows session when users were dissatisfied with the computer’s performance.
In Windows 3.1, system faults didn’t display a blue screen but rather a black screen with untimely crashes. The textual descriptions in these instances were written by Steve Ballmer, who didn’t write code but crafted the information displayed.
02
Windows NT
The blue screen of death in the Windows NT system was authored by John Vert.
03
Windows 95
Raymond Chen stated that early versions of the blue screen information in Windows 95 were not authored by him, but he continuously refined and eventually released the final version of the Windows 95 blue screen.
Chen wrote:
“For some reason, there’s a 30-year mystery surrounding Microsoft’s blue screen.
The current debate focuses on who wrote the blue screen interface? The answers include Steve Ballmer, John Vert, and myself (Raymond Chen).
However, in reality, there’s no conflict. There are three different blue screens, each with different authors.”
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