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Microsoft Retires Legendary 'Blue Screen of Death' After 40 Years of Frowny Faces

Like Pudding Pops and Benetton sweaters, another 1980s icon is gone. After 40 years of delivering the tragic news of a PC crash to Windows users, Microsoft's infamous "blue screen of death" will be going away. But not to worry -- a black screen of death will be replacing it, albeit without the sad emoticon face. The infamous "blue screen of death" has been around since Windows 1.0 came out in 1985. Named for its bright blue color, it's a critical error screen that pops up on computers using the

Nvidia notches 5-day win streak as it hits record highs

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, speaks during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 11, 2025. Nvidia stock rose for a fifth consecutive day Friday as the chipmaker notched fresh highs and investors shook off China concerns. The rise in shares has helped the artificial intelligence chipmaking giant regain its seat as the most valuable company. The stock is up 66% since hitting its 52-week low in early

OpenAI’s Unreleased AGI Paper Could Complicate Microsoft Negotiations

A small clause inside OpenAI’s contract with Microsoft, once considered a distant hypothetical, has now become a flashpoint in one of the biggest partnerships in tech. The clause states that if OpenAI’s board ever declares it has developed artificial general intelligence (AGI), it would limit Microsoft’s contracted access to the startup’s future technologies. Microsoft, which has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, is now reportedly pushing for the removal of the clause and is considering

Forget Google and Microsoft: OpenAI may be building the ultimate work suite of apps and services

Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images OpenAI is building new features within ChatGPT that would make it a direct competitor with workplace productivity suites like Google Workplace and Microsoft Office 365, The Information reported Tuesday. ZDNET has reached out to OpenAI for comment. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Also: How to get Windows 10 extended secur

Microsoft Edge introduces AI history search and performance slowdown alerts

Microsoft's browser provides a fast, secure, and modern web experience. Browse the web anywhere with one seamless experience from your phone to your computer and other signed-in devices. Microsoft Edge is also a safe browser that gives you the tools to protect your privacy and security online. How does Edge compare to Chrome and Firefox in terms of performance and usability? Edge is built on the Chromium engine, similar to Chrome, and often offers comparable or better performance, especially r

The Windows kernel is about to receive a security-focused redesign after CrowdStrike crash

Why it matters: The kernel space is the core component of a computer operating system, where critical hardware management and device driver code reside in memory. If a kernel-level driver malfunctions, the entire OS can behave erratically – or simply crash and burn with a BSOD. Microsoft has stated that it is working on a significant change to the Windows architecture to help prevent another large-scale incident like the one involving CrowdStrike a year ago. Microsoft is developing a new securi

Tesla loses key execs but hires a new one from GM’s failed robotaxi company

is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. There’s some executive shuffling going on at Tesla. Two key leaders have left recently – one of them being fired by CEO Elon Musk – but the company also hired an exec from Cruise, GM’s failed robotaxi company. Yesterday, reports from Forbes and CNBC said that Musk had fired Omead Afshar, who formerly led operations in North America and Europe and was a close confidant of Musk

Acer Swift Go 16 (2025) Review: Affordable OLED Laptop Without Massive Compromises

CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. 8.3 / 10 SCORE Acer Swift Go 16 (2025) $1,150 at Acer Pros Gorgeous OLED display Excellent productivity performance Fairly well priced for what's on offer Cons Disappointing battery life Bizarre, narrow number pad Pricing inconsistencies Acer's latest iteration of the Swift Go 16 line spans a wide gamut of roles and prices. It's designed to fill out a

Nvidia heads for 5-day win streak as it hits record highs

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, speaks during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. Nvidia stock rose for a fifth consecutive day Friday as the chipmaker hovered near fresh highs and investors shook off China concerns. The rise in shares has helped the artificial intelligence chipmaking giant regain its seat as the most valuable company. The stock is up 66% since hitting its 52-week low in ear

This city is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for OnlyOffice and Linux - here's why

Jumping Rocks/Contributor/Getty Is it something in the water? First, it was Denmark bidding Microsoft adieu. Then it was the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Now it's Lyon, France's third-largest city and a leading economic hub, sweeping Microsoft Windows and Office suite away to replace them with Linux, OnlyOffice, NextCloud, and PostgreSQL. Also: Ready to ditch Windows? 'End of 10' makes converting your PC to Linux easier than ever So, why is Lyon making this move? Well, it's not due to

Is classic Outlook crashing when you open or start an email? There's now a fix for that

ZDNET Those of you who use classic Outlook may have noticed the program acting more temperamental than usual. There's a reason for that. In a recent support article, Microsoft acknowledged that Outlook may crash when you start a new email or when you reply to or forward an existing email. Well, fret no more because a fix is afoot. On Tuesday, Microsoft confirmed that it has squashed the bug with the latest builds of Outlook for versions 2021, 2024, and several enterprise editions. The fix is a

No, Windows didn't kill the Blue Screen of Death, it just got a makeover - what's changed

Bloomberg / Getty Images The Blue Screen of Death in Windows is never a good thing. But Microsoft is now making the screen a bit less bright and a bit more helpful. Also: How to get Windows 10 extended security updates for free: 2 options A new BSOD In an update to Windows 11 coming later this year, the old BSOD will give way to a new BSOD -- only with black replacing blue. Painted in a dark shade similar to the Windows Update screen, the new display will not only be simpler and more streaml

Quantum computing is having a moment. But the technology remains futuristic

Microsoft's Majorana 1 quantum computing chip Microsoft It doesn't quite have the buzz of artificial intelligence, but quantum computing is having a moment of its own. Some of the most powerful institutions in the world, including Google , Microsoft , Amazon , IBM and the U.S. government, are spending many millions of dollars in a race to develop and build the first practical quantum computer. Startups focused on quantum technology attracted about $2 billion last year, according to a McKinsey &

This city is the latest European government to dump Microsoft for Linux

Jumping Rocks/Contributor/Getty Is it something in the water? First, it was Denmark bidding Microsoft adieu. Then it was the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Now it's Lyon, France's third-largest city and a leading economic hub, sweeping Microsoft Windows and Office suite away to replace them with Linux, OnlyOffice, NextCloud, and PostgreSQL. Also: Ready to ditch Windows? 'End of 10' makes converting your PC to Linux easier than ever So, why is Lyon making this move? Well, it's not due to

SoftBank CEO says he's 'all in' on OpenAI, reveals he's long wanted Microsoft's spot as main backer

Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp., speaks during the company's annual general meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, June 27, 2025. SoftBank is "all in" on OpenAI, CEO Masayoshi Son said on Friday, as the Japanese tech giant looks to realize its vision of "artificial superintelligence." This year, the Japanese multinational conglomerate has been increasing its investments in OpenAI and participating in joint ventures such as the $500 billion Stargate proj

Fault Tolerant Llama training – PyTorch blog

Collaborators: Less Wright, Howard Huang, Chien-Chin Huang, Crusoe: Martin Cala, Ethan Petersen tl;dr: we used torchft and torchtitan to train a model in a real-world environment with extreme synthetic failure rates to prove reliability and correctness of fault tolerant training Training loss across 1200 failures with no checkpoints. NOTE: Each small spike is a non-participating worker recovering which affects the metrics but not the model Introduction We want to demonstrate torchft in wo

Microsoft Officially Retires 'Blue Screen of Death' After 40 Years of Frowny-Faces

Another 1980s icon is gone, like Pudding Pops and Benetton sweaters. After 40 years of delivering the tragic news of a PC crash to Windows users, Microsoft's infamous "blue screen of death" will be going away. But not to worry -- a black screen of death will be replacing it, albeit without the sad emoticon face. The infamous "blue screen of death" has been around since the very first version of Windows in 1985. Named for its bright blue color, it's a critical error screen that pops up on comput

Microsoft Officially Retires 'Blue Screen of Death' After 40 Frowny-Face Years

Another 1980s icon is gone, like Pudding Pops and Benetton sweaters. After 40 years of delivering the tragic news of a PC crash to Windows users, Microsoft's infamous "blue screen of death" will be going away. But not to worry -- a black screen of death will be replacing it, albeit without the sad emoticon face. The infamous "blue screen of death" has been around since the very first version of Windows in 1985. Named for its bright blue color, it's a critical error screen that pops up on comput

FTC approves $126 million in Fortnite refunds over ‘dark patterns’

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved $126,000,000 in refunds to be sent to 969,173 Fortnite players as part of a settlement over allegations that Epic Games tricked users into making unwanted purchases. At the same time, the agency has reopened the claims portal for eligible Fortnite players to submit refund claims, which will be examined for the third round of refunds. This latest development marks the second phase of the settlement the FTC reached with Epic Games in December 2022,

Microsoft says goodbye to the Windows blue screen of death

Digital boards are seen due to the global communications outage caused by CrowdStrike, which provides cyber security services to US technology company Microsoft, it was observed that some digital billboards in Times Square in New York City, United States, displayed a blue screen and some screens went completely black on July on 19, 2024. It's a bittersweet day for Windows users. Microsoft is scrapping its iconic "blue screen of death," known for appearing during unexpected restarts on Windows

"Nonsensical Benchmark Hacking": Microsoft No Longer Believes OpenAI Is Capable of Achieving AGI

The love's gone bad between Microsoft and OpenAI, whose lucrative partnership ushered in our age of AI hype. OpenAI is trying to convert into a for-profit company, but it's so far failed to secure its benefactor's approval and negotiate a new contract. The frustration is running so high that the ChatGPT maker is reportedly considering bring an antitrust suit against Microsoft if it doesn't get its way. As the Wall Street Journal reports, one thing driving a wedge between them is the industry's

SigNoz (YC W21, Open Source Datadog) Is Hiring DevRel Engineers (Remote)(US)

SigNoz is a global open source project with users in 30+ countries. We are building an open-source application monitoring which helps developers monitor their applications and troubleshoot problems, quickly. We have crossed 21000+ Github stars, 6000+ members in the slack community and 150+ contributors. Company Vision Software and digital systems are becoming larger parts of our daily lives. Most companies are becoming software companies with increasing part of value they create coming from s

The Xbox 360 dashboard just got updated… to advertise newer Xboxes

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. Earlier this week some devoted Xbox 360 users booted up their aging consoles to find that Microsoft had updated the home screen to finally resolve an issue with box art. But in addition to that fix, several users on Reddit, as well as Kotaku, have confirmed the update also adds some sizable ads for the Xbox Series X / S consoles to the 360’s dash

Microsoft Is Having an Incredibly Embarrassing Problem With Its AI

Despite investing tens of billions of dollars into OpenAI, tech giant Microsoft has a problem: it's in direct competition with its business partner, and OpenAI is winning. As Bloomberg reports, Microsoft salespeople are having trouble wooing both potential and existing customers with the company's Copilot, its AI assistant built on OpenAI's tech. Basically, it feels like a worse version of ChatGPT — which has a free version online. Some companies, like the New York Life Insurance Co, told the

Windows is finally kicking the Blue Screen of Death to the curb

The notorious Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is finally heading to a junkyard upstate. This error message has been a key part of the Windows experience for almost 40 years. Microsoft has been teasing this change for years , but now we know the crash screen will be removed in an update to Windows 11 that's coming later this summer . Windows computers are still going to crash , so there needs to be some sort of error screen. Microsoft is transitioning to a Black Screen of Death instead. This new cra

Microsoft Is Getting Rid of Passwords in One Month. Here's What You Need to Do ASAP

If you rely on Microsoft Authenticator to store your passwords, time is winding down. Starting in August, Microsoft will require you to use passkeys instead of keeping all of your Microsoft passwords on its mobile app and your old passwords will vanish. But that's not bad news. Passkeys can cut out risky password habits that 49% of US adults have, according to a recent CNET survey. Making it a practice to use the same password for multiple accounts or include personal hints, like your birthday

45-hour voyage in replica canoe tests Paleolithic migration theory

Earlier this week, we reported on a Swedish archaeologist who spent the last three years sailing the fjords in a replica boat similar to those the Vikings may have used. Not to be outdone, Japanese researchers have followed suit, building their own seaworthy dugout canoe with Paleolithic-era tools to cross between Taiwan and Yonaguni Island, where one of the world’s strongest ocean currents, the Kuroshio, remains active. They presented their findings in two new papers published in the journal S

13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop review: A slightly worse version of a year-old PC

Microsoft's new 13-inch Surface Laptop is an odd one. It's inarguably a step down in every respect from last year's 13.8-inch Surface Laptop. But it's also too good (and too expensive) to be considered a replacement for the Surface Laptop Go, the company's perennially overpriced and underspecced entry-level laptop. It's cheaper than last year's Surfaces, but mostly because Microsoft gave those devices a de facto price hike by killing the entry-level configurations of those PCs. We're left with

Windows is getting rid of the Blue Screen of Death after 40 years

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) has held strong in Windows for nearly 40 years, but that’s about to change. Microsoft revealed earlier this year that it was overhauling its BSOD error message in Windows 11, and the company has now confirmed that it will soon be known as the Black Screen of Death. The new design drops the traditional blue color, frowning face, and QR code in fav

What is an Xbox?

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft’s “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign in November always felt a little too early. If you ask a friend or family member what an Xbox is, the response is likely going to be “it’s a game console.” Xbox is ingrained in popular culture as a box under your TV that you play games on, but Microsoft’s ads over the past six months have been attempting to redefine the Xbox as a