I had earlier shared a trick on how to get rid of repeated and intrusive annoying Windows 10 upgrade prompts from Microsoft on Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines, but Micrsosoft seems to be getting more aggressive trying to push Windows 10 to Windows 7 and 8.1 users and it is getting harder for users to prevent the upgrade from getting installed automatically.

Responding to the significant user displeasure regarding the tactics used to push down the major OS upgrade down the throats of Windows users, Microsoft added features to its Windows Update facility which allowed it to be configured and not forcibly upgrade qualifying Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems to Windows 10. However, Microsoft did not make this configuration simple. It requires the use of the group policy editor (which is not present in some qualifying systems) and/or the system registry. In other words, they created some deep internal configuration options but chose not to provide a simple user-interface to give their users the choice. Freeware utility Never10 allows users use the very same configuration in a simple to use manner. A single click is all it takes to "opt-out" from the Windows 10 upgrade prompts the Microsoft recommended way. The elegance of this “Never 10” utility, is that it does not install ANY software of its own.

Microsoft desperately wants to defragment the Windows Eco-system and is pushing hard to get users upgraded to Windows 10. To get the "free upgrade" message across Microsoft pushed an popup notification down Windows users desktop's, since past few days this got really annoying for me with this blank popup which auto-opens and needs to be closed manually on every boot as shown below. Here is how to remove/hide the notification if you are not yet decided to take the plunge into Windows 10 like me.

Finally got the chance to give Microsoft Windows 10 Technical Preview a try, to get it loaded onto a new machine I opted to create a Bootable Windows USB drive as shared ahead. While the Windows 7 Bootable Disk Maker Tool worked fine for Windows 8 Bootable USB, it failed with Windows 10 TP ISO image.

I used the excellent portable, bootable usb disk maker utility Rufus to get the job done, just point the utility to Windows 10 TP ISO as shown below and click the Start button.

Latest build of Microsoft Windows 10 Technical Preview is now made available for users to download, notable changes (also shared in the video posted at the end of this blog post) and new features from previous build includes Cortana! for Desktop, New Settings App, New Store (BETA), New Windows Menu, New Start Menu, New XBox App, New Photos and Maps apps!, Native MKV and FLAC support, Connect Hub for technologies like Bluetooth and Miracast.

Microsoft is adding native support for newer audio and video codecs to the upcoming Windows 10 OS release, the new codecs to come pre-installed with Windows would be MKV - the high-quality container format which can have multiple streams of audio and subtitle along with video, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) or H.265 - the successor to de-facto video compression standard MP4 V.264 and FLAC - the high-quality, lossless audio format loved by audiophiles.

A new kernel version signify new changes at the very core level of the operating-system, and the build 9888 of Microsoft Windows 10 which just surfaced via some private channel suggests a kernel version jump from 6.4 to version 10.0 as shown in images below. This large jump in kernel version number hints at massive overhaul of the underlying components and seems to be targeted on company's effort to consolidate all of its platforms into OneCore, a name given by Microsoft to it's single kernel for all of the company's operating systems (Desktop and Mobile).

As expected Microsoft announced the next major upgrade to their flagship operating system at a press conference in San Francisco, however the new version is called Windows 10, and not Windows 9 as everyone anticipated. With this new incarnation of the Windows OS platform, Microsoft will be unifying the application Eco-system for all devices: desktops, laptops, consoles, tablets, and phones - Microsoft's executive VP of operating systems, Terry Myerson said "There will be one way to write a universal application, one store, one way for apps to be discovered purchased and updated across all of these devices". The new hybrid Start Menu is one such addition which acts as an bridge for unifying Metro-style apps which can now operate inside their own windows in Desktop/Laptop mode. There's a new, multiple-desktop feature and also a feature that lets users easily grab objects from one desktop and transfer it to another. The Microsoft Windows 10 Technical Preview builds for desktops and laptops are now officially available for download with integrated activation keys from the links shared ahead, the final Windows 10 version is scheduled to be launched in late 2015.