Re:We Need a Better PC
by jordanthoms on Wednesday February 17, 2016 @03:29AM
(#11116248)
I have had the thought that if the Surface machines had good Linux support (still can't stand Windows for development), they'd be a great option. The irony of running Linux on Microsoft hardware would be a major plus also.
With the way MS is going maybe they'll introduce official support!
As an owner of an SP2 for >2yrs, I strongly agree with your idea. However as things are now, it's very difficult to install Linux, FreeBSD or other OS on the SP[2-4], I know because I've tried to do it, not a pleasant experience at all.
OTOH it is pretty easy to run just about any OS in a Hyper-V VM. My SP2 has FBSD running most of the time. One use is letting the VM act like a remote node that clients on the host OS can access. Makes a convenient arrangement for server development and testing in a way that dual booting would not accomplish.
On the downside MS hardware means running Windows 10 on new machines, which I'm not happy about. I won't go into details re: Win10, it's been discussed plenty. When it works the hardware's great, though MS firmware skills are marginal at best, it's bitten me a few times, but there's another bunch of long stories that ATM I'll refrain from telling.
Haha! High-end Dell and ASUS machines are good, but the lack of Apple competition is why Microsoft made the Surface Book. "We gave you nearly twenty years to make something good! Fine! We'll do it ourselves."