Windowsx 8.1 Update 1 For Surface RT

[Liam Perry]

For those curious, the recently leaked Microsoft MSU files for Windows 8.1 Update 1 are fully compatible with the Microsoft Surface RT.
I couldnt find anywhere online that covered anything to do with this update on this tablet so I'm going to share some details about the update:

• 
  Full Update is 380MB to download and takes roughly 1hr 30mins to install. (Install time may vary.)
  Full Driver Compatibility (Other OEM WinRT Tablets have reported driver issues with WiFi etc.) As far as I am aware hardware functions as it did before.
  You can pin metro apps to the taskbar in desktop mode.
  SIGNIFICANT SPEED BOOST
  Metro Apps load faster (shorter splash screens, shorter response times, increased fluidity in most apps.)
  The Metro title bars and access to the desktop taskbar in metro mode appear when you connect the keyboard or mouse.
  Web browsing performance INCREASED. (Script reliant sites and resource intensive websites handle very smoothly and are much more usable than on previous 8.1 builds.) For example Tumblr's Dashboard used to be inoperable as the RT couldn't handle the post editor interface. This now runs as smoothly and quickly as my desktop.
  UI Lag is mostly a non issue now. Frame drops when switching between resource intensive apps, when scrolling large web pages etc. is for the most part gone.
  Slow keyboard response time when editing large documents is also no longer an issue.
  Battery Life seems to have improved. (This is by no means definitive, I noticed that it's normally flat after a solid day at college using desktop mode and metro ie, but today it held charge for the entire day and its still running at 11PM.)
  New Start Screen options for power managment (shut down, standby etc.) are not available on the Surface. (Regardless if keyboard is plugged in or not.)

This is what I've found so far.
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them.
As a full time undergraduate student who uses their surface as their primary computer, this update really impressed me. The device is so much faster now.

 

[BIGPADDY]

Thanks for listing the improvements!

I can't wait to get this update on my Surface 2!

 

[migueli2]

Downloading and installing might make you fail update when the official comes out, no?

 

[prlundberg]

Well that's good news, I really wasn't expecting much in the way of improvements on my RT anymore. IE has been so frustrating I have been advising against RT tablets. If that's fixed maybe there is hope for RT after all.