Windows 8.1 on the Surface RT: Make sure you update the update

10/18/2013

Updating the Update

I updated the Surface RT in the morning yesterday to version 8.1 and in the evening there was one more step that I needed to complete, updating the update.

Windows 8.1 RTM’d  (Released to Manufacturing) in August. Since that time Microsoft has not rested on their laurels as programmers have continued to work on and improve the code in Windows 8.1. For software engineers programming is never “done” as there is always room for improvements and bugs to fix in the software.

Software updates are one way to address this continued development and Microsoft routinely releases updates. So, it was no surprise to find an “update to the update” last night when I checked.

Here is how the process went for me:

7:17pm

In Windows 8.1 on the Surface RT I went to Settings > Change PC Settings  > Update & Recovery > Windows Update

I found a new firmware update, selected it and it took about 1 minute to download and then the Surface RT rebooted.

After the reboot the RT continued downloading updates, this took about another ten minutes.

  

7:30pm

Another reboot

After rebooting the RT went into update mode and worked through six new updates.

“Updating 1 of 6….”

“Don’t turn your PC off”

“Updating 6 of 6….”

It only took about 1 minute to install ALL 6 updates

7:32pm

Another reboot

“Getting device ready” about 1 minute

 “Getting ready” about a minute

7:33pm

Another reboot

7:34pm 

All done and signed in with my Microsoft account at 7:34 pm

I checked for updates one last time, found no more.

So, that was not so bad, about 15 minutes to get everything on the Surface RT 100% up-to-date after installing the Windows 8.1 Update earlier in the day.

This last round of updates did make the Surface RT noticeably faster and smoother.

After completing ALL Windows 8.1 updates on the Surface RT, swiping from app to app was noticeably snappier.

I also noticed that before I updated to Version 8.1 I had 3.47GB of space available on the Surface RT and AFTER the ALL updates completed I ended up with 7.38GB of free space! 

The other BIG thing that the new Windows 8.1 update brought to the Surface RT is the inclusion of Outlook as part of the Office 2013 package. This gives the Surface RT the full complement of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook for some heavy duty office productivity work. Combined with enhanced integration with SkyDrive the Surface RT is shaping up to be a great companion device that packs a powerful punch.

If you have a Surface RT be sure to do the latest updates as each iteration of updates has improved the RT performance. If you were lucky enough to get a free Surface RT from Microsoft at the #iste13 conference then it is definitely worth the effort to update to the latest 8.1 release.

Keep on Learning,

Tom Grissom, Ph.D.

http://eiu.edu/itc