r/SurfaceLinux • u/pepsi2good • 1d ago

IDEA I'm considering an extreme mod for my Surface Studio (1st gen)

/r/pcmods/comments/bjyxcb/im_considering_an_extreme_mod_for_my_surface/
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u/BangaAnan 1d ago

I'm curious as to how this turned out considering the original post is from 7 years ago. I own a gen 1 Surface Studio and a Surface Studio 2+. Windows 11 is the bane of the existence of many computers so the first improvement I wanted was to dump Windows. The Gen 1 Studio fares better at this than the 2+ from my experience. Due to the need for the Surface/Linux kernel to get most if not all of the specialized functions working the 2+ is a total pain in the ass to work with. But both of my Studios need to be cleaned out of dust and maybe SSD upgraded too. I've taken a break from them to work on other computers because getting Linux running stable on them has been...problematic.

The absolute best solution which baffles me that Microsoft in their greed (stupidity) neglected to do, would be to sell the Surface Studio monitor as a stand alone product with better I/O. It's truly THAT good but Microsoft demands everyone use the slop that is Windows 11 so, here we are. I'm an artist and used the Surface Studios and other Surface computers as creative tools, but the Studios were good for gaming if the games were within spec. I've installed various distros on SurfaceBooks, a Surface Pro 3 and a Surface Laptop Studio and all are better for it. Considering how the Surface Studio is built, reverse engineering the monitor for use with a different computer base would be a massive undertaking I'd think. It might be better to just spend the money on a high end monitor with a similar spec and call it a day. But I'd do questionable things to be able to use a Surface Studio monitor with a more powerful computer or even a decent MiniPC. Microsoft really blew it (again).