Posted on Monday, December 10 2007 @ 9:00 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Some users of Windows Vista
report about a new variant of the dreaded BSOD that features a fancy purple color:
The so-called "purple screen of death" occurs when there's a conflict between certain system drivers and Windows Vista's Desktop Window Manager, according to researchers at NeoSmart -- a nonprofit technology tracking firm that first spotted the issue.
When the glitch occurs, windows on the Vista desktop turn purple and become unresponsive, according to NeoSmart. "It's caused by a low-level problem in the kernel, and it does make you want to restart your PC," NeoSmart researchers said in a blog post on the subject.
NeoSmart concedes that the problem is rare, and that most Vista users probably haven't encountered it. "It's something to do with the way the Windows Vista kernel handles a certain exception in the graphics driver subsystem."
One poster on the NeoSmart blog said he was hit with the 'purple screen of death' while his computer was equipped with Nvidia graphics drivers that had not yet been optimized for Vista. "It creeped me out... I mean, why purple, of all colors!?," wrote Mark Anders.
