Microsoft’s Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) now includes a not so smiley face.

The sad face is displayed on the BSOD screen in the latest Windows 8 developer preview build. The typical full page of information with STOP codes and detailed hardware or software error details has been removed and replaced with a simple interface that mirrors the rest of the operating system. Geek.com spotted the sad face BSOD and notes that most people were expecting a black one.

Early leaked builds of Windows 8 included a black screen of death with similar information on the status of why a machine crashed. The switch to the black screen was clearly a temporary one. Microsoft did the same thing with Longhorn build 5112 throughout Vista’s development stage. Microsoft has only ever used a Black Screen of Death in Windows 3.x when DOS-based applications failed to execute correctly. Microsoft typically uses Black screens when its operating systems are attempting to load following the power-on self-test (POST).

Microsoft has used the Blue Screen of Death since early copies of Windows 1.0. The first Windows error screen composed of code page 437 symbols against a blue background. The first proper Blue Screen was present in Windows 3.x. Microsoft started using a Red Screen of Death inside early Windows Vistabuilds. The company also used Red Screens inside early beta copies of Windows 98.

Thanks to Sebastian Gorgon (@Sebianoti) for the image