Surface RT 8.1 Preview

[jnjroach]

Cauzion - you've posted the same question in so many threads...(if I were paranoid I would say you're doing some cheap SEO for your review blog )

 

[pallentx]

Yeah, generating that ad traffic and number of links to the site...

 

[guitar1969]

On the Start Screen Scroll Up to expose the All Apps Screen and locate Outlook on the right side of the Apps, select and Pin to Start.

Unfortunately I do not have an Outlook app listed in the All Apps screen or in the search.

Never mind - I found the app in all apps
.
But add me to the list of issues - my Surface was acting strange after doing a bunch of updates today so I tried to restart and could bring up the charms menu but then it would not let me execute any of the buttons, like settings . I also tried holding power button to force a restart, but would not work. Ultimately I got to control panel and saw that there were more updates which forced a reboot. Now its working again for the moment.

 

[R0bR]

I have a question for all you 8.1 preview users. I installed it on my RT and most excited about the addition of Outlook for RT - My question is if there is a way to pull contacts and calender items into it via outlook.com like the standalone people and calender apps do. I see the usefullnesss of Outlook RT but still see a beneift of using the standalone calender and people apps but don't want to maintain 2 different sets of data. From what I have seen, it looks like it only allows manual import or internet calenders, but not directly with Outlook.com unless I am missing something. Surley Microsoft would make a way for the new Outook RT to use syncing of calender and contacts with Outlook.com, right?

update - I got this working by using activesync data file settings and using server as "m.hotmail.com"

That's odd, I didn't have to do anything more than link my outlook.com account to Outlook RT and I get the calendar items and people showing up as contacts automatically. So far I've not experienced any odd issues with my 8.1 install other than some of the Apps stuttering when swiping items across, like news apps. My battery also ran out of juice last night and no issues starting it up this morning which also finished installing updates at the same time. I created s recovery USB anyways before installing 8.1 so I'm ready to revert if required.

 

[tonyz3]

For the third straight day, my Surface RT needed "press-hold, press-release" actions on the power button.

Last night before retiring to bed, I decided not to turn off the RT and just set it to airplane mode as I usually do. This morning when I got to the office, there was a loud, repeating chime inside my bag. I assume it is caused by an appointment from my calendars so I pulled out the RT and did the usual press-release on the power button. Nada. The chime has stopped and I pressed the Windows button and it's giving me the haptic feedback so the device must be awake, but no display.

Hey my wifes RT just started doing this coming out of shutdown. This has happen 3 times in the last 2 days. Have you figured this out or know of a fix.

 

[Lolvo]

Downloading the 8.1 Preview right now, and will most likely have to install more updates, which will take a decade and a half...

Created a recovery drive just in case; can't wait to fool around with 8.1. I really need to setup SkyDrive and get my documents, etc. synced from my laptop and accessible on both devices.
Hope everyone is liking the new features.

 

[faithful.dushness]

The 8.1 preview has a few quirks:

Photo tile doesn't seem to be live. It won't show/rotate pictures.
I can't pin a shortcut to an executable to the Start screen anymore.

The main troubling issue is that it won't connect my Windows Phone 8 device anymore.

Other than those the update is great. The tile sizes, new settings, new keyboard functionality, Outlook, etc; are all very nice.
Anyone else with a newer WP8 device having the same problem?

 

[ArnoldC]

The 8.1 preview has a few quirks:

Photo tile doesn't seem to be live. It won't show/rotate pictures.
I can't pin a shortcut to an executable to the Start screen anymore.

The main troubling issue is that it won't connect my Windows Phone 8 device anymore.

1. If your libraries are screwed up, if won't show photos and hence tile remains blank. Bring your libraries to default, use the new option to use SD card for storage.
2. If the executable has a shortcut, it will appear on the application list (swipe up), and from there you can pin it to Start. If you created your own shortcut to anything, the option is there (pin to start, pin to taskbar) and pin to start does not work.
3. My device initially complained about my HTC Windows Phone 8S, so while it is still connected, I shutdown the phone and it was recognized on reboot.

 

[faithful.dushness]

Thanks, the photo tile works now.

That's too bad the pin to start doesn't work anymore. That was useful.

Hmm, an MTP USB device driver can't be loaded. I've rebooted both the phone and surface.

 

[ArnoldC]

Does it appear under This PC -> Your Phone -> Phone | SD Card ?

 

[faithful.dushness]

Does it appear under This PC -> Your Phone -> Phone | SD Card ?

No, and in device manager there is an MTP USB device that windows can't load. That's supposed to be a media transfer driver.

 

[ArnoldC]

How about removing it first?