Microsoft Windows outage: 'Blue Screen of Death’ cripples systems worldwide

Millions of Microsoft Windows users are reported to be facing a ‘Blue Screen of Death’ error, characterized by a blue screen accompanied by an error message. This widespread Windows failure has disrupted systems globally, affecting offices, airports, media houses, and even emergency services. The error has resulted into a sudden shutdown or restart of systems, which Microsoft says is “due to a recent CrowdStrike update”. 

What is Blue Screen of Death? 

In a blog post, Microsoft underscored that the blue screen occurs when errors force Windows to shut down or restart immediately. CrowdStrike, in an update, has said that the Blue Screen of Death is attributed to the recent update it rolled out while it also added that its teams of engineers are working to resolve the crisis. 

We're investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services. More info posted in the admin center under MO821132 and on https://t.co/W5Y8dAkjMk

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 18, 2024

The US tech giant said on X, “Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions.” It also added that investigations were ongoing regarding the “issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services”.

Services of different airlines disrupted 

Several airports in the country are facing temporary unavailability of services spanning affecting various airlines. 

In a post on X, Akasa Air informed users about the unavailability of some of its services, such as booking, check-in, etc. Spicejet also took to social media saying that it faced technical issues in giving details regarding flight disruptions.

In more news related to Microsoft, the tech giant tested an upgraded Notepad application with combined spellchecking back in March this year. However, the tech giant has now integrated this improved type of Notepad plain text editor into conventional Windows 11. Windows Notepad was launched in 1983 for the first time and has remained like a frozen app for many years without any perceivable updates in generations of the OS, however, some substantial progress has been made lately.