Funny Until The IT Guy Has a Heart Attack

Give Microsoft credit for having some fun with its reputation as a purveyor of shoddy code.

But I'm not sure this spoof of Windows' infamous Blue Screen of Death is destined to provide endless moments of mirth for IT pros -- or any computer user.

Here's how CNET News.com describes the experience:

BlueScreen v3.2 simulates the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, an unexpected freezing of Windows caused by software error that has plagued IT administrators and users for many years -- and that has provoked no end of criticism of Redmond's software-coding skills. The BlueScreen application cycles between different Blue Screens Of Death, providing a simulated boot every 15 seconds, based on the actual configuration of the PC on which it is deployed.

Is it me, or would this get tired fast?

The prank screensaver wasn't cooked up in Redmond; it was created by Sysinternals, a provider of Windows system utilities. Microsoft bought the company in July and recently launched a TechNet site featuring Sysinternals tools, thus raising the screensaver's profile enough to ~~become mindless blog fodder~~ spark a spirited online debate.