Microsoft pulls Dec 2013 firmware update for Surface Pro 2 as troubles become widespread
On December 10th, Microsoft rolled out a firmware update for the Surface Pro 2. Immediately upon downloading that firmware update, numerous users began experiencing an error code (80070490) when attempting to install the update.
Context & Ripple Effects
The December pull lands one month after a Surface Pro 2 firmware update that improved battery life, extending an update cadence Microsoft has run on the Surface line since its first round of Surface software patches back in November 2012. This time the December 10 rollout failed at installation for many users with error 80070490, and rather than patch forward, Microsoft withdrew the update outright.
The pickup was unusually broad for a firmware story — Gigaom, GeekWire, The Verge, Computerworld, SlashGear and TechRadar all carried it — reflecting both the holiday-quarter timing and the fact that the Surface division's credibility is under scrutiny while Microsoft's board, per director John Thompson, defers choosing Ballmer's successor until early 2014.
First-order effects
- Surface Pro 2 owners who attempted the December 10 install are left facing error 80070490 with no fix available, while devices that never downloaded stay frozen on the November firmware because Microsoft has pulled the update entirely.
Second-order effects
- The withdrawal lands mid-holiday-selling-season, giving retail channels and reviewers a concrete reliability knock against the very device Microsoft positions as its answer to traditional laptops, and pushing support traffic onto answers.microsoft.com where the failures were first documented.
Third-order effects
- If pull-and-redistribute becomes the standing response to bad firmware, Microsoft's own update track record becomes part of the Surface value proposition that enterprise and consumer buyers weigh — a structural liability for a hardware business still trying to establish itself while the CEO succession stretches into early 2014.
The trend: As PC makers adopt smartphone-style continuous firmware servicing, update quality control becomes a recurring product liability rather than a one-time launch concern.