Microsoft Releases Recovery Solution for Crashed Surface RTs

Last week, Microsoft (News - Alert) launched an update to the Windows operating system RT 8.1 for tablets and light, thin personal computers. According to Microsoft, RT 8.1 runs built-in apps or apps downloaded from the Windows Store. However, soon after the launch, the software giant had to pull the Windows update from its website as it resulted in some crashes for some users’ tablets. 

As a result, during the weekend, the company removed the RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store.  According to Microsoft, only 0.1 percent of all Surface RT owners were affected by the problem. Concurrently, Windows 8.1 for traditional PCs was not subjected to any such problems, including Surface Pro tablets, said Microsoft. But, it had its own glitches, which were relatively much smaller.

On Monday, Microsoft released a recovery solution to help users restore their crashed Surface RTs and make them working again. Soon after the recovery, the software giant also announced the return of Windows RT 8.1 to the Windows Store.

On Tuesday, Microsoft officially launched its Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets in 21 initial markets, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The new Surface products will be available in China in early November.

In a press release, Microsoft said that buyers of Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 will receive free Skype (News - Alert) calling to landlines in more than 60 countries for one year, unlimited Skype Wi-Fi on their Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 at more than two million hotspots worldwide for one year, as well as 200 GB of free SkyDrive storage for two years.

While the Microsoft Surface 2 costs $449, and will be available in 32 GB and 64 GB configurations, Surface Pro 2 starts at $899 comes in 64 GB and 128 GB configurations with 4 GB of RAM (News - Alert). It also comes in 256 GB and 512 GB configurations with 8 GB of RAM. Some of the orders for the higher-end Surface Pro 2 options have been pushed back until December, although Microsoft has said that it may have some in stock at physical stores.