Windows 11: Microsoft reintroduces the blue screen

The cumulative update KB5007262, which is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel and Release Preview channel and bumping Windows 11 to version 22000.346, brings a “feature update” of a special kind: The blue screen is celebrating its return and it’s currently only resolved that you have entered a black screen again.

Committed to tradition

As the official release notes for Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.346 reveal, Microsoft is bringing back the blue screen that was known for years, replacing the black screen that was only introduced with the release of Windows 11.

We changed the screen color to blue when the device stops working or when a stop error occurs as in previous versions of Windows.

Microsoft

With Windows 95 and Windows 98 at the latest, the blue screen has become an institution under Windows as a screen for crashes of applications, services, drivers, or even the entire operating system. With the publication of the first beta version of Windows 11, Microsoft wanted to break this “tradition” and paint the screen black.

Next roll back

The feedback from insiders, who wanted to restore their familiar blue screen, obviously moved Microsoft into a role backwards, and not for the first time. With the Fall 2022 update Aliasing Windows 11 22H2 at the latest, drag-and-drop will return to the taskbar.

More information is provided by the administrator Windows 11 Insider’s Blog.