I just got an update from a Microsoft spokesperson on the situation that began this past Saturday with failed Surface RT upgrades to Windows 8.1.

Based on our investigations of a situation customers have encountered updating to Windows RT 8.1, we can confirm that as of now this is a Windows update issue only affecting Surface RT customers. While only less than 1 out of every 1,000 ( or less than 0.1%) Surface RT customers who have installed Windows RT 8.1 have been impacted, improving their experience and ensuring their systems are fully operable as quickly as possible is our number one priority. We have made recovery media available for download here along with actionable guidance for affected customers. We continue to work towards making the Windows RT 8.1 update available in the Windows Store again and apologize for any inconvenience. Further updates will be provided as they become available.

If you have been following along this began early Saturday when we learned the update had been pulled due to an unspecified issue for a limited number of users on a Microsoft support forum.

Then this morning Microsoft made a Surface RT 8 Recovery Image available via their Download Center to help those with bricked Surface RT’s to get back up and running while the issue is investigated. The above statement from Microsoft certainly confirms that was the intent of releasing that recovery image for download.

So for now it is still unresolved but we will bring you any updates as we get them.