Set Up Microsoft Surface Device

How to install and set up Zorin OS on a Microsoft Surface device.

Microsoft Surface devices with Intel & AMD processors should be compatible with the latest version of Zorin OS. As a result, you can install Zorin OS normally on these Microsoft Surface devices.

View how to install Zorin OS ›

Linux Surface Kernel

After installing Zorin OS to your device, you can install the bespoke Linux Surface Kernel to get better hardware compatibility on most Microsoft Surface devices.

Before continuing, please make sure to install the latest updates in Zorin OS by opening the Zorin Menu → System Tools → Software Updater.

To install the Linux Surface Kernel, please open the Zorin Menu → Utilities → Terminal and enter these 6 commands:

wget -qO - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/master/pkg/keys/surface.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo dd of=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/linux-surface.gpg

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://pkg.surfacelinux.com/debian release main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux-surface.list

sudo apt update

sudo apt install linux-image-surface linux-headers-surface iptsd libwacom-surface

sudo systemctl enable iptsd

sudo update-grub

Afterward, restart your computer to apply the changes.

Additional setup

You may need to perform additional steps to fully set up your device on Zorin OS depending on your Microsoft Surface model. You can check which hardware features require additional setup on your device by viewing the Linux Surface project’s Feature Matrix.

View Linux Surface Feature Matrix ›

For reference, Zorin OS 17.2 currently has the Linux kernel version 6.8 as standard.