Why does Linus Torvalds say Windows BSOD is not a software bug?

Linus Torvalds believes most Windows Blue Screen of Death errors are caused by unreliable hardware, not software issues.

What did Linus Torvalds say about overclocking?

Torvalds stated that gamers who overclock their systems accept additional unreliability.

What is the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)?

The BSOD is an infamous error screen displayed by Microsoft Windows when a critical system error occurs.

Home / Technology / Torvalds: BSOD Blame Lies With Hardware, Not Windows

Torvalds: BSOD Blame Lies With Hardware, Not Windows

5 Dec

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Summary

Linus Torvalds attributes most Windows Blue Screen of Death errors to hardware.
He cited unreliable hardware as the primary cause of system crashes.
Torvalds also noted that gamers who overclock accept added unreliability.

Torvalds: BSOD Blame Lies With Hardware, Not Windows

Linux founder Linus Torvalds has offered a surprising defense of Microsoft's Windows operating system, suggesting that the notorious Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is often misattributed. Torvalds believes that the majority of these system crashes stem not from software flaws, but from unreliable hardware components. He emphasized the importance of ECC memory for fundamental reliability.

Further elaborating on system stability, Torvalds highlighted that users engaging in overclocking, particularly gamers, are consciously accepting an increased risk of system unreliability. This practice, he implies, contributes to the perceived instability that often leads to crashes, rather than inherent software defects in Windows.

This discussion comes as Torvalds' own creation, Linux, approaches its 33rd anniversary since its initial functional shell release on September 17, 1991. The source code for Linux has been freely available since its inception, fostering a global community of developers and users.