The Blue Screen Of Death Is Slowly Becoming A Thing Of The Past

Recall that dreaded feeling? Yup, the one caused by the Blue Screens of Death (BSOD) error screens that showed up as a result of problems on Windows workstations.

Windows XP was particularly notorious for this, and is widely regarded as the version of Windows with the highest average amount of BSOD errors — mostly due to drive issues that caused incompatibility between software applications and hardware.

Well, you may be pleased to know that they are now becoming a thing of the past.

ZDNet is reporting that Microsoft has focused heavily on this in Windows 8, and the company has managed to improve its flagship operating system in such a way that users are seldom provided with this particular (and horrifying) kind of error.

That is not the case for Windows XP, though.

Device drivers are said to be responsible for no less than 85 percent of the BSOD screens that show up in the old operating system that still powers around 31 percent of computers worldwide.

But Microsoft has implemented a series of enhancements and tools that are capable of detecting and fixing these driver errors in Windows 8. The new OS also lets users know in advanced about any potential errors that may occur, and provides them with options to download and install drivers.

That’s not to say that BSOD errors have completely disappeared in the newer versions of the OS.

Both Windows 7 and Windows 8 are much more stable, but according to data released by web analytics service Soluto earlier this year, Windows 8 users get an average of 0.28 BSOD screens every month, while Windows 7 users get these errors 0.33 times on average every 30 days.

Plus, since the Blue Screen of Death does not show up as often in Windows 8, Microsoft has redesigned the error screen with a smiley face so users don’t get angry when their monitors turns blue.