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I'm amazed at the steps we have to take to keep Windows 10 from phoning home. We tolerated this nonsense during the Insider Preview phase, but now that Windows 10 has hit the big time RTM there should be no need to add a zillion lines to our hosts file. After having played with Windows 10 x64 Enterprise in a VM for a week or so I'm not impressed. Even bigmuscle can't save us, and he himself admits he's not made the switch. I've gone back to Windows 7 and will wait to see what the August Release brings. Now that the benchmarks are out (admittedly I've only found one source so far) showing Windows 10 to be no faster (or longer lasting on the battery) than either 7 or 8/8.1, I just don't see any advantages to the new OS right now. I'm willing to keep an open mind on this and am sure you master tweakers will save the day...whenever that is! Cheers

Windows 10 x64 Enterprise RTM Version One of the first things I did following a clean installation was to enter Task Scheduler and Delete the Microsoft Error Reporting (Queue Reporting) Task, along with the Consolidator and other useless customer improvement background applications. But every time I restart the system and check the Task Scheduler, the Queue Reporting task is back to haunt me! How do I get rid of this telemetry "feature"? Is there a setting in Local Group Policies that disables this task? It's so frustrating to have lost control of my own computer. Who's the Administrator here, anyway? If this keeps up I'm definitely going back to Windows 7. Cheers Edit : OK, I just checked the Local Group Policy Editor and there is indeed an option to disable Windows Error Reporting. I'll let you know if this works. Looks like we've got some discovering to do...

Looks like our worst fears have been confirmed: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2953158/windows/microsoft-wants-you-to-pay-for-solitaire-again-in-windows-10.html Surely this is only the beginning...

OK, I've disabled AeroGlass for now and have 2 of the 3 symbols in case bigmuscle needs them. Just let me know and I'll upload them again. I let the system run for quite a while and quite a few dump files were loaded but the 3rd symbol just wouldn't download.

Same here...dwmcore.pdb has just been downloaded but still no sign of the others. Whenever I open the Start Menu the crashes begin. Just need to stay away from the Start Menu for now. Since I use WinLaunch to display all my important programs via a Mac-like Launchpad Utility I can avoid these for now. Without AeroGlass I wouldn't even consider making the move to Windows 10! What a difference this ingenious little program makes. Edit: Ouch, now AeroGlass found another symbol and downloaded it and my system has gone haywire. Well bigmuscle, it looks like you may have some new symbols to work with after all!

I'm afraid they're not the symbols we need. We'll just have to wait until Microsoft releases them for the RTM Build. Sorry about that...

http://ul.to/8ckhf9x2 Never done this before, hope this works! You can check them out and let me know if these are those needed for Build 10240. I have no idea...

Well, dhjohns, I'm not sure if the Symbols that were downloaded are the right ones since there's no version information provided when I check each of them. But I had always left this folder empty up till now and the AeroGlass task claimed it couldn't find them from the Microsoft server. Let me check the debug log file when I get a chance to make sure. Edit: You were right, dhjohns, I just deleted the Symbols folder and restarted my system to see if AeroGlass would download them from the server. No luck. The pop-up command text states that they couldn't be found. Must have been a glitch this morning, but I'll put the symbols back just in case.

For the first time this morning AeroGlass succeeded in downloading the required Symbols for Windows 10 x64 Build 10240, and I'm now suffering from display driver issues and crashes whenever opening up the Start Menu. The good news is that bigmuscle now has a more or less RTM build and symbols to work with. And with the MSMG Toolkit I was able to remove all Modern Apps and Windows components such as Defender, Getting Started, Feedback and Windows Store from the Windows 10 x64 Enterprise installation image. When I finished my clean installation I was greeted with a Start Menu displaying just two icons, Edge and Cortana! What a thing of beauty. Add to that bigmuscle's AeroGlass, the theme files generously provided here and a few tweaks here and there and I just may make the switch from Windows 7. Many thanks to all of you here who have helped to make Windows 10 more lean and mean.

I'm so sick of all the hype...bringing back the Start Menu seems to be the only pitch Microsoft can sell. When the final version has finally been released we may get an objective, no-nonsense review. Someone posted a question on one of the other forums about the advantages of Windows 10 over Windows 8 or 7. Pages and pages of subjective responses with only one concrete improvement: support for ReFS! If bigmuscle can't save us I'm sticking with Windows 7.

I'd highly recommend MSMG Toolkit, which can easily be found on the MDL Forums. Summary: The MSMG ToolKit is basically a Toolkit to Service, Customize, Add or Remove Features and Components, Enable or Disable Features to Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. When Windows 10 RTM arrives the ToolKit will surely be updated to support the final version, and you can then remove all Modern Apps from the installation image to get rid of MS bloatware. Since many of these applications can't be uninstalled from within Windows (such as Xbox), I prefer to remove them completely before installing to ensure no traces remain. Although I far prefer Windows 7 as a desktop operating system, sooner or later we'll have to jump ship and with the help of MSMG ToolKit as well as AeroGlass, the transition might not be so bad after all. Cheers

Hi Noel I loaded the theme atlas file you provided in Post No. 727 above but in Build 10147 there doesn't seem to be any transparency behind the title bar.

Thanks dhjohns, I guess I gave up too early. The point is it shouldn't be that difficult. In earlier Windows 10 TP Builds Windows Defender could be disabled directly from the Control Panel.

The option to select between the default range of colors is still available under Settings, but I couldn't find the optional color and intensity sliders anywhere in the Control Panel. I agree with Noel and am staying with Windows 7 as my primary virtual machine under OS X, but hope we'll be able to find the necessary "hidden" registry entries needed to add some personalisation beyond the default drab Microsoft seems to prefer. AeroGlass ist a must as well of course! I also wasn't able to find the option in Local Security Policy to disable Windows Defender in the new build, by the way, so clearly we're being led down an ever narrowing path with each release. I fear a Local Account will no longer be a possibility with the final version.

I doubt very much if AeroGlass will work with Build 10125. I couldn't even find the Control Panel option to change my color settings (Change the Color of your Taskbar and Window Borders) in the new build. So I just copied over the new icon set and media files to Build 10122 and am sticking with that one for now. Looks like personalisation is going to be more of a challenge as we move towards RTM.

If we can't either disable this feature or remove it permanently I'm outa here. Are Enterprise users going to be subjected to these ads as well? You gotta be kiddin' me! Cheers

Hi DosProbie How did you get that blurred task bar in Build 10041? And which non-debug version are you referring to? Cheers

Hi Noel Yes, that's the one I'm using. Thanks for the heads-up. Cheers

Noel Just wanted to thank you for the awesome theme atlas you've provided for Windows 10 TP Build 9926. I'd almost given up and was getting ready to wipe my drive to restore good ole' Windows 7 when I found your post. Most of my Modern UI Applications don't work (Maps, Windows Store Beta, Photos and sadly, Cortana) but at least you've helped bring back a bit of the look and feel of my work space. Either I hold out for another 5 years or try to make the best of the new while ignoring Microsoft's attempts at insisting on making Windows 8.1 + more palatable to desktop users. Your theme along with BigMuscle's Aero Glass, as well as Classic Shell, will help make the transition easier. Cheers

BigMuscle has already reported that his newest version of AeroGlass is compatible with Windows 8.1 Update 1. However, Version 1.2.1 is not. Be patient.

Couldn't get Version 1.2 to work with the WZOR Windows 8.1 x64 update (9600.16610.140201-1007). Pop-up displayed on startup while attempting to apply scheduled AeroHost.exe task and reported incompatibility issue while asking if I'd like to retry downloading of symbols. A lot of mini dump files were also noted in the AeroGlass folder. I've gone back to Windows 7 again in the meantime.

Looks like Microsoft is determined to defy bigmuscle! I don't understand why Aero can't be restored as an option...Windows 8 looks so lifeless without it.

I like the way you think. Future enhancements I can think of in 30 seconds that might have some value include: Finding a way to put a glow behind the titles of ribbon-enabled windows.A nice, clean options configurator.Enhancing the effects a bit (e.g., adding an optional "horizon glow" or maybe brightening the glass subtly near the corners).Making drop shadow directly configurable.If *I* had a slick "injection engine" and knew the things BigMuscle does, I might consider making such corollary products as: An "unsigned theme facilitator".Something that would "re-skin" (change the look of) Office 2013.I'm sure folks can think of others. -Noel Hey bigmuscle Bring us a custom theme for Office 2013 and you'll be a hero! Have you seen the complaints over at the Microsoft forums with no relief in sight? And it's been going on for months!

OK, thanks bigmuscle...looks like it is working since transparency is lost on battery power. However, I've now started getting the black boxes everyone else is reporting, along with an error message in the debug file. Will go back to Windows 7 in the meantime (Windows 8 was running hotter and at times refused to shut down properly as well, so I have the feeling Windows 7 is more reliable anyway).

Gentlemen Am up and running with AeroGlass following a clean install of Windows 8.1 x64 and all is well! Just one question: I've disabled AeroGlass on battery power in the registry but it still seems to be active. HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM DisableGlassOnBattery DWORD 0x1 How can I tell if AeroGlass is running via the TaskManager? The DWM.exe process is listed as running via DWM-1 both on AC and battery power. (Injection provided at startup using the registry entry rather than the AeroHost task, which wasn't working for me). The symbols seem to be loading correctly and there are no errors reported in the debug file. Thanks!