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Microsoft Surface update tweaks performance

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

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Brooke Crothers
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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.

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.