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Windows RT 8.1 Update Pulled From Windows Store
UnknowingFool writes "After reports of update problems including bricking of some devices, Microsoft has pulled the 8.1 update for RT from their store while they investigate. 'Microsoft is investigating a situation affecting a limited number of users updating their Windows RT devices to Windows RT 8.1. As a result, we have temporarily removed the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience. We will provide updates as they become available.' While update problems are not new to software, could this be a consequence of Microsoft not releasing 8.1 RTM to developers? Developers may have experienced problems earlier and alerted Microsoft before it went live."
My Surface Pro (not RT) update went swimmingly.
Its faster than it was before. Oddly, I now have two voice recorder apps. ?
But everything I previously had on the machine works perfectly.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
They just can't catch a break. Definitely a lot of distraction going on in the company with the unknown next CEO.
Seriously, the PC is important, and Microsoft is killing the platform. The universal computer is what drives innovation, not the consumer machines that Apple and Google are selling.
Serves them right. Microsoft should have learn already that the way to release stuff is to put a BETA label in it, like Google does with everything else. Service unavailable? BETA! Unexpected error? BETA! Lost all your data? BETA!
Beta is a blanket term for "we can charge for this but if it breaks it's not our fault".
Come on, MS. You're lagging behind.
There is also a widespread issue with updating to 8.1 failing with a 0xC1900101 - 0x40017 error on PCs.
Several of the nine affected customers were disappointed.
oops
It's bricking when it cannot be fixed. This can, hence the article summary is wrong. Wake up editors!
There are a ton of people complaining about things no longer working after the 8.1 'upgrade'. Thank God I run a nice, reliable operating system like Linux instead of this crap that breaks machines every time you try to upgrade.
I'm so glad that oracle pointed out the flaws of open source! I would hate to think of bad code stemming from proprietary ideologies.
The update just makes it official.
You would think they'd have finally invested in a QA dept. for their major releases. Marketing dept driving deliverable dates again?
hm, you don't say
Upgraded my laptop the day the update became available in the store...have only noticed two odd things so far:
VLC is dead. Crashes immediately, then gives error about failing to send an error report. Yay. Uninstalling and reinstalling made no difference. Double yay.
Pictures used for wallpaper, screensaver, login screens, etc changed after reboot. Bizarre, but easily fixed.
I should note that I had to google how to change some of these back to original settings, as not all of these are changed from control panel. and the actual
setting I was looking for is hiding behind a GUI element that doesn't look clickable. That annoyed me more than anything else.
Seriously? They didn't seed that to the devs for a week or two? That's just plain stupid. Only reason I can see for pulling that is if there was a serious problem they needed to get fixed quickly.
Also raises the question of how much they really care about the performance and stability of RT on other manufacturers' boxes?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Let's see: I updated 3 desktops and 2 Rt devices and not a glitch was I lucky or is there something else going on? Time to bash MSFT again, eh?
I just upgraded my PC (non-RT obviously). Because I use UEFI and my install is on GPT, AND I have SecureBoot disabled to be able to easily boot linux, I must now suffer a permanent "Windows 8.1 Pro\nSecureBoot isn't configured correctly\nBuild 9600" watermark in the lower right corner on my desktop. There does not seem to be a way to just disable this message, short of using a resource editor (or disabling other security measures, such as UAC).
Sure, you can disable it, but then we'll punish you. Essentially Microsoft are saying, enable SecureBoot or else...
The users this happened to are now celebrating the increased value of their purchases, as their investment is no longer just landfill, but a slate AND a brick which are both valuable building materials.
> "After reports of update problems including bricking of some devices,"
Hang on, aren't all Windows RT machines exactly the same hardware? How could there be differences between machines where an update would brick some and not others?
And the Windows 8 journey just keeps getting more entertaining.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Developers may have experienced problems earlier and alerted Microsoft before it went live."
Duh, you think? Only a Microsoft exec would be dumb enough to think otherwise.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
enterprise will not stand for that what MB / system has this BS?
and why no secure boot for win 7??
Running the Apple walled garden model against a variety of hardware, and your rapid updates brick some of the models. Shocked - SHOCKED - that there's gambling going on in this establishment.
...Wednesday to be exact. A Wholesaler had a drawing after a vendor event. Last year I won my iPad at the same event. I also own a Nexus 7, and was willing to give this Microsoft Tablet a go. At the very least it could be used as a HTPC lite or something. It's 1080P output via a Micro HDMI port was beautiful, and a full-size USB port was a bonus, as was the Micro SD slot. The lower-rez screen was a disappointment. After 24 hours and a concerted effort to find a use-case for it, I quickly grew to hate the thing. The apps were poor and half-baked, the live-tiles became annoying, and apps that I love and need weren't available for the platform, yet were available on all of my other devices. VLC Media Player was $13.99 or something close to it. The Interface is, for me, a great big bucket of suck. Luckily, I upgraded to 8.1 and the thing promptly borked. Even with the volume off, it emitted an annoying whiny buzz when keys were pressed (I bought - and returned - a keyboard cover) or when it booted, or when you swiped the screen. The wholesaler gave me a Best-Buy gift receipt with it, so when I returned the godawful thing on Friday, I came away with a $397 store gift card. This will be applied to a nice DSLR camera sometime in December.
Does anyone still use that old microsoft?
It's not MB specific. The logic seems to be that if the environment supports it, but secure boot is disabled, then show watermark.
A multitude of different systems are affected, from typical boards used by enthusiasts to OEM laptops where the Secure Boot options have simply been "hidden" away to not confuse users.
I could understand a temporary alert... but this is fucked as hell.
Seems your article has some issues with it. Such as incomplete/false information. Are you a Yahoo writer? The only fact you actually present is that
If I remember right for all the crap Google has done and this post..
""Serves them right. Microsoft should have learn already that the way to release stuff is to put a BETA label in it, like Google does with everything else. Service unavailable? BETA! Unexpected error? BETA! Lost all your data? BETA!
Beta is a blanket term for "we can charge for this but if it breaks it's not our fault".
Come on, MS. You're lagging behind.""
MS has a history of screwing up updates, going back to XP, updating it would cause all kinds of problems, and slashdotters have pointed this out several times. Besides it has been questioned that updating XP alone, also exposes blatant exploit holes, you'd be better off not bothering, and waiting for another full release.
If so then that can be bad for them
Trust Microsoft to screw it up even when they control the hardware
Next time you go to a live, film it with a MacBook Pro!
There, my friends, is a telltale SIGN OF IMPENDING DOOM unless IMMEDIATELY Microsoft completely changes the way it is handling Win 8.x - be it RF or whatever - as the competition from Google on the low end AND soon corporate AS WELL AS the elite top of the line iOS / OSX are effectively leading to a very quick dissolution of the Windows Platform. Of course this all ON TOP OF the Win 8 RT insanity which has probably killed much of the potential for small businesses and higher sophisticated individuals to go out and by MS instead of the iPad and top line Android tablets.
As a matter of fact with "no brand" Android tablets with quad cores and 2GB RAM as well as 3G and MicroSD going for 200 bucks it is really difficult to justify any investment in Win RT as most office tasks are perfectly done either with Google Apps or the myriad of "office compatible" apps out there, especially with the ASININE PRICE POINTS that WinRT is being offered, laptop price with much less functionality AND choice.
What MS MUST do to avoid complete disaster is ABSOLUTELY FOCUS ON QUALITY, so that the Win 8,x platform is VIRUS IMMUNE, HAS A CORPORATE MARKET and MDM as a "Office for business" tools, has E2E integration with legacy Windows (more difficult but it CAN be done)
If MS DOES NOT DO these things they are destines to melt in the sun faster than they imagine....
Malware / viruses used to cause this in XP.
Some system DLL gets hacked with some code that calls something at a fixed address. The new code moves things around. Brick.
Back then it was OK. It was assumed you weren't running proper AV. Do you think MS would tell us if this were happening with it's latest unhackable baby?
While normally I would look at this, it seems that I had early access from the Windows 8.1 Preview that was loaded on my RT device for 2 months before I did a refresh back to Win8RT OS. The device got constant updates to keep it within striking distance of RTM. I am thinking that it was not the lack of "Windows 8.1 RTM" for a RT device that casued the issue.
Thanks to all of you that act as my test team. Your relentless pursuit to ensure that all the bugs are ironed out so that my system never has to brick is much appreciated. You will get a virtual cookie for your dedicated service.
Why is it that, whenever I read a release from Microsoft, today, I hear the "Dancing Elephants" theme? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI8GLXS74EU
I believe him.
After all, the say the chimera never lies...
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Waiting for 8.1.1
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Charge what exactly, I'm awaiting my Google bill with baited breath.
Whyyy