Karlston Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Users' complaints about buggy, unreliable systems have subsided since the massive April 19 fixed most driver problems Microsoft launched the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 six months ago, and in the first quarter of this year they ratcheted up to an astounding $1.1 billion in sales, according to figures released last week. That's just in the first quarter. Several industry observers -- present company included -- were stunned. The Surface Book and Pro 4 have a reputation among current and former owners for being temperamental, buggy, and infuriatingly unpredictable. But there's good news. It sounds like the massive driver update on April 19 fixed most, if not all, of the problems. The level of "I'm going to return this piece of scrap" complaints has gone to zero. The forums that usually buzz with Surface outrage have subsided. There are still complaints about the "sleep of death," but the decibel level is at its lowest of the past six months. What happened? It looks like Microsoft finally got its drivers to work with the Skylake processor, Nvidia video chip, and various Intel components. It took nine versions of the drivers and firmware -- Oct. 23, 2015; Nov. 2; Nov. 18; Dec. 2; Dec. 17; Jan. 27, 2016; Feb. 17; Mar. 15; and Apr. 19 -- but the April 19 versions seems to have done the trick. Part of the solution lies in breaking out the drivers so they install separately, the way most drivers have installed since the dawn of time. Prior to mid-March, the updates -- called "System Firmware Updates" or "System Hardware Updates" -- arrived in a single, undifferentiated blob. If the blob didn't install, Surface customers were justifiably upset when their systems were left lying in the blue screen dust. Now the drivers and firmware updates are broken out into bite-size pieces. The April 19 patch, for example, contained two dozen separately identified patches. If one of the patches doesn't install, at least you have the other 23. That's what happened to me with the Surface Book. I hit an error trying to install the "Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) Control Logic," which cascaded into errors installing other components. I finally contacted a Microsoft engineer -- using official means, not some journalist-only back channel -- and woke up one morning to discover that everything had installed correctly. I'm now happily humming away on a Surface Book. My experience matches what I'm hearing in general. The Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 now have a general reputation for being solid and reliable. It only took six months. Source: Microsoft finally gets the bugs out of Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 (InfoWorld - Woody Leonhard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
togapilot Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 +1 Nice read, thanks for posting! I can attest to some of the issues that have plagued the Surface Book since its release although mine seems to have been more stable than others. I will join in saying that my Surface Book is also solid and reliable at this point and I do use it regularly for business travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlston Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 3 hours ago, Karlston said: Now the drivers and firmware updates are broken out into bite-size pieces. The April 19 patch, for example, contained two dozen separately identified patches. Let's hope Microsoft learn from this and start breaking up the Windows 10 take-it-all-good-and-bad cumulative updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 On 4/28/2016 at 4:53 PM, Karlston said: Microsoft launched the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 six months ago, A little food for thought seems no much is interested in those units much. Quote Apple's iPad Pro beating Microsoft Surface in 'detachable' tablet market Over 4.9 million detachables were sold in the March quarter, a triple-digit growth versus the same period in 2015, said IDC. The firm didn't offer a platform-specific breakdown of those numbers, or an exact definition of detachables, although that appears to refer to tablets that have a dedicated method of attaching docks, keyboards, or other accessories — in the case of the iPad Pro, the Smart Connector. Regular "slate" tablets accounted for 87.6 percent of units sold in the March quarter. That market is said to be sliding towards the low end, which may help vendors like Amazon that simply want to grow their ecosystem, but is said to be pushing the likes of Samsung and Huawei to produce detachables for the sake of keeping up profit margins. The tablet market as a whole reportedly shrank 14.7 percent year-over-year to 39.6 million units. Apple continued to lead with 10.3 million shipments, although its marketshare fell from 27.2 percent to 25.9. Samsung ranked second with 6 million tablets, seeing its share dip from 18 percent to 15.2. In third was Amazon, with 2.2 million units and a 5.7 percent share. IDC speculated that going into the future, iPad sales will be "largely relegated to replacements" of older iPads and PCs, rather than net new additions. Things like the 9.7-inch iPad Pro are said to be "healthy additions," however, and lower $399 pricetag for the iPad Air 2 could spur upgrades by people who still own an iPad 2. http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/04/29/apples-ipad-pro-beating-microsoft-surface-in-detachable-tablet-market https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41218816 http://betanews.com/2016/04/28/apple-ipad-pro-obliterates-microsoft-surface/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallon Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 On 4/28/2016 at 10:53 PM, Karlston said: Microsoft launched the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 six months ago, and in the first quarter of this year they ratcheted up to an astounding $1.1 billion in sales, according to figures released last week. That's just in the first quarter. That's not surprising at all, taking into consideration that any iPad is far from being a full PC. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 however is a full PC and prices of an 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 are about the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 14 hours ago, Fallon said: That's not surprising at all, taking into consideration that any iPad is far from being a full PC. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 however is a full PC and prices of an 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 are about the same. Maybe Microsoft Surface Pro 5 witch is rumored to come when redstone does but they yet to get i t right even with this update. Quote “But there’s good news. It sounds like the massive driver update on April 19 fixed most, if not all, of the problems. The level of ‘I’m going to return this piece of scrap’ complaints has gone to zero. The forums that usually buzz with Surface outrage have subsided. There are still complaints about the ‘sleep of death,’ but the decibel level is at its lowest of the past six months.” The article adds that Microsoft was finally able to get its drivers working with the Skylake processor and various Intel components. It actually took nine versions of drivers and firmware, but the latest one seems to have done the trick. However, there are some on Twitter who have complained about Microsoft’s latest update for the Surface Pro 4. @surface My Surface pro 4 did a Windows update and now it won't turn on. Can you help? I tried holding down the button for 15 secs & 30 — Kelli Bosko (@kbosko) April 26, 2016 @SurfaceSupport Is Microsoft aware of fan problems (runs constantly) caused by the recent Surface Pro 4 update? Is there a fix planned? On several different forums, people have said that the battery life has increased slightly, but that it’s still not satisfactory. Rumors that Microsoft is going to update the Surface Pro line within a couple of months have given them hope. Some websites are claiming the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will be available before the release of the updated MacBook Pro, which is believed to be announced in June. Science World Report is one of the sites making the claim. “Microsoft Surface Pro 5 could be released earlier than previously expected. A news article suggests that Microsoft appears to be in a rush to finish the 2-in-1 detachable device out in the market ahead of Apple’s MacBook Pro 2016 release, which, according to rumors, is in June’s Worldwide Developers Conference.” The article, which doesn’t tell readers the original news source, adds that the Surface Pro 5 will come with the Windows 10 Redstone update. It also “lists” other updates the new Surface Pro 5 will have. No doubt, some of those “updates” were taken from a recent article on the Inquisitr, which listed predictions, but never indicated they were facts. You can bet that when Surface Pro 5 is released, there will be a major increase in battery life. After all, the battery life issue seems to be the only thing that is turning potential buyers away from the Pro 4. Microsoft still hasn’t created the ultimate laptop/tablet hybrid, but they are coming very close to doing so. http://www.inquisitr.com/3042817/microsoft-surface-pro-4-inches-to-perfection-with-massive-update/ This is very typical of Microsoft to release something full of bugs and as soon as get it stable they release something new with a new set of bugs From the sounds of it it had much bugs it was bad as windows ME My Mini Dell Tower will be as small as i will ever go for the price of a Pro 4 you can get this . Quote CyberPower Z170 i7 Configurator Intel® Core™ Processor i7-6700K 8GB DDR4/2800MHz RAM GeForce® GTX 950 2GB ASUS Z170-PRO GAMING Motherboard 1TB SATA3 7200 RPM HD 24X DVD±R/±RW Drive I'm old skool ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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