A Microsoft representative has said that the Windows 10 Preview should not be installed in the Surface 3 tablet.
Microsoft is still currently developing Windows 10, which will be the company's next operating system after the much-criticized Windows 8. While there have been rumors that Windows 10 will be released by the month of July to have it ready for customers looking to purchase PCs as part of the back-to-school shopping frenzy, Microsoft has not confirmed an official release date for the operating system.
Users, however, can try out a preview version of Windows 10 on a PC that is powered by either Windows 7 or Windows 8 by participating in the Windows Insider program. According to Microsoft, 3.7 million users have signed up for the program, which looks to have users test the operating system and report possible issues for Microsoft to take a look at and fix.
Users of the recently released, low-cost Surface 3, however, are being advised not to sign up for the program and install Windows 10 in their tablets.
"Please do NOT try to install Windows 10 on the new Surface 3," posted Microsoft support representative Barb Bowman in the Microsoft Community forums. The explanation is that there are still no drivers available to support the Preview build of Windows 10 on Surface 3, as Intel has not yet released the required drivers. Specifically, there are no drivers available for the Intel x5/x7 processors.
However, the high-end Surface Pro 3 tablet is safe to run Windows 10, as these tablets pack the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, which already feature native driver support.
In the thread, a user posted that he was able to install Windows 10 on his Surface 3 through a dual-boot setup using a set of drivers found in a page on the Microsoft website. Bowman, however, replied that the drivers used are for Windows 8.1 and not optimized for Windows 10, and should only be installed in conjunction with Windows 10 at the user's own risk.
The incompatibility of Windows 10 with the Surface 3, reported Business Insider, explains a baffling event in Microsoft's Build Developer's conference held last month in San Francisco. At the event, Microsoft gave attendees of the conference new HP Spectre laptops, and since most of the attendees were Microsoft developers and are part of the Windows Insider program, Windows 10 was immediately installed on the laptops.
Surprisingly, Microsoft did not give away any Surface 3 tablets at the event, and the inability to operate Windows 10 could be the reason why.
