According to a recent confirmation by WithinWindows. com blogger Rafael Rivera, software giant Microsoft has blocked a popular work-around which enables the users of the Windows 8 desktops to circumvent the tiled start screen and boot directly.

Referring to the April-revealed ".scf hack" – which gave the users of Windows 8 Consumer Preview the ability to boot directly by bypassing the tile-based Start screen after logging on -, Rivera said in an email that “some changes” have been made by Microsoft to its Windows OS so as to “prevent the .scf hack from working correctly."

Apparently, the move indicates that Microsoft intends to stick with its decision to make a foray into the tablet arena with its ‘Surface’ tablet.

In the email, which was essentially a response to questions about Microsoft’s contentious move, Rivera also said that even though it was possible to modify the previews of Windows 8 for slotting in a homespun Start button and sidestepping the Start screen at log on, those workarounds have been invalidated by Microsoft in the August 1-announced Release to Manufacture (RTM) build of the forthcoming OS.

The conclusions underscored in the email by Rivera - who has co-authored the soon-to-be-released book ‘Windows 8 Secrets’ along with Paul Thurrott – were first reported on Monday, by renowned ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley, who also added that some other hacks have also been blocked, including those which restore the Start button to Windows 8.