14 DAY TRIAL // Guess we've missed this last year, but YouTube user John Cuppi has made a demo video to showcase the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system running on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet and laptop device.
In the 11-minute long video, John Cuppi is showing those who want to attempt installing Ubuntu Linux on a Surface Pro 4 device what works and what not. First things first, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 appears to boast an Intel Core i7-6650U processor running at 2.20 GHz with Intel Iris 540 graphics (Skylake GT3e).
The first issue you'll encounter before installing Ubuntu is that you won't be able to use the device's touchpad and keyboard. To solve the annoying problem, John Cuppi connected a USB Hub to the single USB port of the Surface Pro 4 and attached a standard USB mouse and keyboard.
Here's what works and what doesn't on Surface Pro 4
After installation, the first thing he did was to install the third-party Ubuntu kernel offered by Peter Hunt on a PPA for Microsoft Surface devices. Once the device was rebooted and the new kernel activated, most of the things worked quite well, including the touch screen so you can move windows with your finger or use a stylus.
Other things that will work after installing the custom kernel are video playback (including YouTube), sound, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the MicroSD card reader. However, it looks like you won't be able to use the volume buttons, nor the built-in webcam. Additionally, the sleep function doesn't work, and you can't configure the pen pressure sensitivity.
If you're interested in replacing Microsoft Windows with Ubuntu Linux on your Surface Pro 4, we recommend watching John Cuppi's video to see what apps work and what issues you'll encounter. Eventually, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel for future updates. Have fun!
