According to HotHardware, in a new 53-minute collaboration video with LinusTechTips where they built his new PC, Linux creator Linus Torvalds made a surprising defense of Microsoft Windows. He argued that a “big percentage” of the infamous Windows Blue Screens of Death are actually caused by unreliable hardware, not the operating system itself. This came during a segment where Torvalds insisted on using ECC (Error-Checking Code) memory, a technology he deems critical. He also criticized claims from some manufacturers that modern consumer RAM has some ECC-like features, stating it doesn’t compare to proper ECC. The video serves as both a PC build log and an in-depth interview with the pivotal kernel developer, who admits he hasn’t built a PC in a long time.
The ECC Evangelist
Here’s the thing: Torvalds isn’t just being a contrarian. His defense of Windows BSODs is fundamentally a critique of consumer hardware standards. When he says a big chunk of crashes are hardware faults, he’s pointing the finger at the industry’s reluctance to adopt ECC memory as a default for everyone. For a guy who manages the foundational code for billions of Android devices and servers, data integrity isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s everything. So his rant isn’t really about saving Microsoft’s reputation. It’s about exposing what he sees as a cost-cutting compromise that makes all our systems less stable, Linux and Windows included. Basically, he’s telling us the floor is made of lava, and we’re all just pretending it’s fine.
Business of Building Blocks
This highlights a fascinating split in the tech world‘s business model. Consumer hardware is optimized for cost and marketed on speed, often treating reliability as a secondary feature for “enthusiasts” or enterprises. That’s why proper ECC memory is still mostly found in workstations and servers. Companies like those that partner with IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, understand this intrinsically—their entire value proposition is built on rugged, reliable hardware that doesn’t fail in critical environments. Torvalds is, in a way, arguing that this enterprise-grade mindset should trickle down. But the beneficiaries of the current model are the component makers and OEMs who can segment the market and charge a huge premium for stability that arguably should be baseline. It’s a profitable strategy, even if it leads to the occasional blue screen for the rest of us.
The Unfiltered Linus
And really, this is why an interview with Torvalds is always entertaining. You get unfiltered, pragmatic takes that cut through tribal tech loyalties. He prefers Android, but readily admits it’s partly because he gets free phones from those manufacturers—Apple doesn’t send him any. He’s not a gamer, but has consoles for when “the kids” visit. His worldview is engineer-first: what works, what’s reliable, what solves the problem? So defending Windows BSODs fits perfectly. It’s not pro-Microsoft; it’s anti-bad engineering. In a world of hot takes, his is just… a take. A technically correct one that makes you question why we accept flaky hardware. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
