Surface Pro: Installing different OS?

An x86 OS WILL NOT install on the Surface Pro unless Secure Boot is disabled. This is done in the firmware settings on the SP itself. You an access that by going to the Advanced Startup features.

Let us know if this answered your question and mark it as answered!

It can be installed but you may have a problem in getting drivers for the motherboard components.  Microsoft did not make available a resource driver disk for the components so you could end up with an installation but no networking, no sound, and not much of anything else.

Intel does have the driver for the video.  The only way to find out is to try it but I don't recommend it.

Motherboard resource drivers are something that most people don't know about because those are integrated with the commercial installations of computers today.  The only time anybody sees those are people who scratch build computers or are OEM builders.  Motherboards come with a driver disk that have those drivers.

Windows 8 can be a pain for a lot of people but it is best in regards to these tablets, it is best to leave them as they are.

At least with you Pro model, you 'can' install just about any operating system you want to include Linux and with Linux, the latest distributions have Secure Boot support.  Linux has drivers built in for everything.  That is another option.

The biggest problems are the drivers.

Hello zhangweilc,

Microsoft will only support the preinstalled software, as per the warranty.

Technical support: Provides help and technical support on preinstalled software for the first 90 days after purchase.

http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/microsoft-surface-warranty-faq

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

This is not possible. The keyboard is still available but the Metro style keyboard is not available in Windows 7.

In addition, driver support in Windows 7 may be a huge problem if you do this. I do not recommend downgrading to Windows 7 at all. If you proceed with that, I doubt you will find much help on this forum.

If you are having issues with your keyboard, there are a few things you can try. Here is my suggestion:

1. Attach the keyboard and login
2. Open Device Manager
3. Under Human Interface Devices, right click Touch Cover Trackpad Settings and choose Uninstall (it will reinstall later)
4. Reboot (it will reinstall upon reboot)
5. Is the touch/type cover and onscreen keyboard now working a bit better?

Regarding the switching from Metro to Desktop mode, in Desktop mode the onscreen keyboard will not open unless you are using certain touch-oriented programs such as Office 2013.

Let us know how it goes.

Greetings Rodbar,

I'd like to add in the official word on this. Yes, Windows 8 Enterprise can be installed on the Surface Pro. Windows 8 Enterprise is a commercial / business offering and does not come with the standard 90-day software warranty policy. It is supported using the available commercial support options. Using Windows 8 Enterprise does not void your hardware warranty.

Windows 9 doesn't exist yet, but yes you should be able to update Surface Pro to the next version of Windows. I suppose you could install Windows 7 on Surface Pro, but I wouldn't recommend it. Windows 8 is optimized for touch and if you want the Windows 7 desktop experience on Surface Pro - then just stay in the desktop. You can run Windows 7 desktop apps on Surface Pro.

Kate