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