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Still holding on to your original Surface Pro? Microsoft has a firmware update for you

surface pro 2 firmware 2016 microsoft group
Image used with permission by copyright holder
If you are still running one of the older generation Surface Pro or Surface Pro 2 two-in-one systems, then today holds a pleasant surprise for you. Microsoft has released the first firmware update since last summer. This update improves stability and fixes up a couple of niggling issues on both platforms, making them more capable than they have ever been.

Updates for the original Surface are a little on the scanter side of things, so we’ll address those first. As the older of the two systems this makes sense, though perhaps there will be the odd Surface owner with slightly greener eyes today when we get to the Surface Pro 2 changes.

Still, the Surface does get a new firmware update that eliminates the random wake ups that have plagued some users, and there’s been an update to the audio driver, bringing it to v1.0.360.0, which improves stability when detaching the cover.

The update for the Surface Pro 2 has a little more to it, updating the Intel driver to improve HD Graphics performance, and adding an upgraded Surface ACPI-compliant control method battery driver. It also benefits from the updates to the Surface, so it has the same audio driver and random wake up fixes as its older brother.

Other Intel driver improvements have given the Surface Pro 2 better color calibration and system stability, too, with an Intel Display Audio driver update improving compatibility with the new graphics driver.

Of course, nothing in his update is going to blow anyone’s socks off. The aging two-in-ones don’t suddenly have the performance of their more current peers, nor do they offer any brand new features. But this upgrade does make them more relevant and continue to improve their usage experience for consumers. You have to give Microsoft props for that.

Both updates and be downloaded from the Microsoft support site.

If you own a Surface Pro or Pro 2, are these fixes and updates something you’ve been waiting for for a while?

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