“Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote the text for the original Blue Screen of Death,” Tom Warren reports for The Verge.
“Microsoft developer Raymond Chen revealed the surprising fact in a blog post earlier this week, detailing Ballmer’s dissatisfaction with the original text that flashed up when a program wasn’t responding in Windows 3.1,” Warren reports. “Ballmer was head of the systems division at the time, Chen recalls, and when he visited the Windows team he thought the wording didn’t ‘sound right’ for the ctrl+alt+del dialogue.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s entirely appropriate that Ballmer wrote Windows’ oft-seen BSOD text since he turned out to be Microsoft’s own BSOD: Bald Supervisor of Delusion.
Microsoft Windows. A pox on computing for nearly three decades. Die, Windows, die!
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MDN, I’m with you, Windows cannot die soon enough.
Fscking worthless piece of crap (and believe me, I know what “crap” is).
BSOD: Bald Supervisor of Delusion. – laughing hysterically!
Can anyone else provide for the acronym of BSOD?
I’ll start…
Bull Shit On Display
Your turn…
big sigh of defeat
BSOD= Bald Stupid Obese Dumbass
BSOD = Ballmer School Of Design
BSOD = Better Solutions Offered Defeated
BSOD = Ballmer Sadism Of Despair
BSOD = Better Scram Outta Dere
BSOD = Bitter Screams Of Dying
BSOD = Blowhard System OS Disease
BSOD = Buzzards Swooping Over Display
BSOD = Billions Suffering OS Disorder
Etc., etc., etc….
That first one is priceless!
Broken, Slow, Obsolete, Dead
Ballmer Skipped Out, Dude
POETRY IN BLUE
LOVELY
Ballmer Scatters Old Deckchairs.
Buddy, suck on dis
I hate to be pedantic, but Ballmer wrote the “Ctrl+Alt+Del” message, not the BSOD message. The article from the Verge is based on this blog post:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2014/09/02/10554253.aspx
It’s true that both messages share a lot of common text. However it is unclear what Ballmer’s contribution exactly was, and how much or little it changed the “Ctrl+Alt+Del” message.
I wouldn’t be surprised either way if Ballmer was responsible for the BSOD message entirely, or merely slightly tweaked the “Ctrl+Alt+Del” message only. But the source material doesn’t say.
OMG!!!! I said in my comment that he probably had something to do with control alt delete and he did. LMAO!!!!
I had no idea the “ctrl+alt+del” message on Winblows 3.1 said, “Developers, Developers, Developers!!!”
To be honest, I have yet to see the Windows 8 BSOD and I’ve been using it since launch.
It’s still Windows…still slows down after a few months of use, still vulnerable to drive-by browser downloads and self-installing malware…but at least I don’t see the blue screen anymore.
To be honest, I’ve never seen it either, then again I’ve never even bothered to look at a Windows 8 system.
That’s because windows 7 now takes a snapshot of you screen and then shows it while it reboots in the background. The user just thinks it froze for a few minutes which is completely normal and acceptable behaviour according to any IT doofus.
Is it really possible? And it only took… how many decades?
It’s been far more stable since windows 7 due to the design of the driver modes etc. Most BSODs are caused by 3rd part drivers and now they cannot bring the kernel down when they crash.
Also There are ways of preventing the o/s from slowing down over time. I kept my xp and now win 7 rigs lean and fast forever and never have this problem. I’ve also never had any malware virus issues that Mac users love to harp on.
I am a Apple fan. OS X is the best operating system, rock stable and great functionality. Having said that, I don’t want Windows to fail. Competition makes everyone better. I hope Microsoft gets their act together (a major task). I hope Nadella is up to the task. He is an order of magnitude better than Ballmer but that still is a low bar.
Competition as a driver of excellence is way oversold in the US.
Indeed, the original Macintosh System and Finder set a fairly high bar with approximately zero competition in its day. Same with iOS. I think we can trust Apple to keep pushing into new territory while improving on the old for many decades to come, even without others copying and stealing from them. (There’s otherwise no competition whatsoever!)
I agree to your comment on OSX and competition. Without competition it will not keep Apple on their feet and someone can sneak in and pull the rug out from under them like maybe Linux. But, I am on the fence with her. She really really has to work hard to bring Microsoft back to at least to half or three quarters to what Microsoft was under Gates.
Don’t count on linux being the one.
The mindset is not there neither is the single minded driver of the concept of operation for the end user.
Microsoft getting their act together would be great if that ever happens. But that’s a long wait for a train that don’t come.
It sure fits him. He is the BSOD. He probably also had something to do with the 3 finger salute ( control alt delete ) as well.
Steve Balmer can read?
Yes but he needs to be do it open mouthed with a bucket under his chin to collect the slobber as he tries to digest the wordy sentences in front of him. He went through two and a half buckets trying to read Stephen Elop’s magnum opus ‘Hi there’ memo.
Was in a Best Buy yesterday (Don’t laugh, I needed a MiniDisplay Port to HDMI adapter) and went over by the computers to see if anybody is buying the dreaded Windows 8 craptops.
There was only ONE GUY over there and he was probably in his early-mid 60s, looking to replace his XP desktop that was apparently on life support. The customer had asked me about the Windows 8 laptops and I informed him I have to this day seen 1 person who paid for a Windows 8 laptop and personally used Macs. As the sales guy started his Windows pitch, I bluntly asked him how many of these things were actually selling and I got a very distressed look.
He had then told the guy that he needed a Windows PC to run Excel- apparently the main reason he has a computer- and I told the guy that that simply was not true. I proceeded to show him how he could get Excel on a Macintosh, use Office online or use (possibly depending upon his needs) Numbers on a Macintosh. The now very distressed sales guy began to backpedal.
The older gentleman left with a brand new Macintosh and links to find all the software he would need once he got home and online. I also left him with my phone in case he need help.
That is how Windows fades away- one customer at a time.
And people say kindness and consideration for others is dead !
Good for you. You saved that customer hours of grief by introducing him to Mac.
I’m with ya! My husband saw a stressed out PC person on FB inquiring about Apple and he PM’d them my eMail address! Another switcher for me today. They are VERY excited to get their first Mac, they have SO had it with pop ups and the rest of the Bullshit System Of Devices. Going for an iMac and we’ll order them a nice economical Refurb this weekend. 🙂 I LOVE IT. I’ve lost count of how many switchers I’ve helped. Yes, one Mac at a time.
VERY nice. Great job.
Blame the user. That’s the Microslut way!
I got a BSOD on my work Windows 7 laptop last Friday. What a blast from the past! I honestly didn’t think that happened anymore with modern Windows, but there it was, just like old times.
——RM
Robin,
I hate to break it to you, but there is no way to stop the BSOD from happening. Modern day Windows might have better integration of drivers which causes less crashes, but you will still BSOD on hardware failure. If your hard drive is dying, there is a good chance that you will BSOD. No operating system can avoid this as hardware does have a certain time to live.
Ironically the BSOD was the only Windows feature that was actually stable on Windows – it never needed an update, the prompts actually did what they said they would do and it could always be relied upon to appear when you least needed it to (which was pretty often).
By using a calming blue background it could cushion the stress induced by realising that all your precious data was about to be nuked – a masterpiece of design…
Way to go Ballsy!