Microsoft, it seems, will not leave any stone unturned to make sure that its newest Surface tablets attain as much popularity as possible. Per reports, Microsoft has started pushing out updates to its Surface RT device this week with the company's first monthly "Patch Tuesday."
This development from Microsoft is the first notable one for the Surface since Windows 8 and Windows RT's launch on Oct. 26.
The Redmond-based company has made the most of its opportunities and has issued a system firmware update for Surface, which, as it appears, has brought about improved performance. However, to most fans and tech-dedicated Web sites this is not a surprise as it was expected that Microsoft would eventually push out improvements for security, performance, Internet Explorer, and much more.
"To improve security protections for customers, Microsoft provides vulnerability information to major security software providers in advance of each monthly security update release," states Microsoft. "Security software providers can then use this vulnerability information to provide updated protections to customers via their security software or devices, such as antivirus, network-based intrusion detection systems, or host-based intrusion prevention systems."
The new update brings about a host of changes for the Surface. As far as the features are concerned, there is Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer, a security update that resolves vulnerabilities in Windows Shell that could allow Remote Code Execution, an update that resolves vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers, and many more.
For example, the vulnerabilities in Windows Shell update resolves "two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user browses to a specially crafted briefcase in Windows Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code as the current user."
"If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take complete control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."
The guys at The Verge have been testing the new updates and Verge's Tom Warren reports: "I managed to install seven Windows RT updates today on my Surface RT and I compared the system to an unpatched one and noticed improvements in app launch times. On average, apps launched around two seconds faster than before, a noticeable improvement."
It has also been reported that out of the seven patches, Microsoft has also managed to patch two security issues with Windows RT.
