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Microsoft Surface update tweaks performance

Microsoft releases patches for the Surface RT tablet, which include performance improvements.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Microsoft has issued a firmware for the Surface RT tablet that improves performance, according to reports and anecdotal comments.

On the same day that Microsoft released patches for Windows 8, it is also furnishing a system firmware update for Surface RT along with Windows RT operating system updates.

"Surface is definitely running smoother...App transitions seem snappier," said a reader commenting below a ZDNet article.

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A report and a blog post also mention performance improvements when launching apps.

CNET's Surface review last month said performance could be "slow at times."

Fixes listed under a "cumulative update" include performance improvements "when you wake the computer and when the computer is asleep, in order to improve battery life" and a patch for "an issue that may prevent Windows Store Apps from being installed fully."

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet runs a version of Windows 8 written for ARM processors -- the first time for a mainstream Windows OS to run on the same chips that power Android smartphones and tablets. Therefore, some Initial hiccups were expected.