Should I switch from Windows 8.1 to Ubuntu?

[monkeybrain20122]

The discs appear to be burned correctly. Would burning at a slower speed make a difference?

If you have a usb flash drive make a live usb and add persistence (so you can save settings) instead.
You can use this to make a live usb for Ubuntu in Windows.http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

Forget about the CD/DVD unless you enjoy the sound of mechanical parts grinding and like things to run slowly. This is 2013 for crying out loud. You have a new computers, almost all computer made in the past 10 years support booting from usb.. I really think the advice to "burn a live CD" is completely outdated.

[amjjawad]

The discs appear to be burned correctly. Would burning at a slower speed make a difference?

YES, it does

[amjjawad]

I'm kind of frustrated. Older computers I might be able to figure this out but not on this new computer. I have a Gateway. If I would have had more money I would have tried to get a more expensive computer. Anyway I downloaded and burned Ubuntu to DVD. I went to start up and changed boot order to CD/DVD. But it isn't working. It keeps booting into windows. Perhaps there is something else I should change in start up menu? I also tried Mint. Same problem except with 64 I go as far as some kind of an x-server error message. Maybe there is a key on the keyboard I should press?

Check the first 2 screenshots about BIOS here.

I am not sure what Key on your machine you need to press to enter BIOS but it is either F2 or F10 or F12 and sometimes Delete (but guess that is for older machines).

Once you enter BIOS, you should find something like "Boot" Tab or something and then check the booting order

As has been advised, LiveUSB created by the latest UNetbootin is much faster but after all, it is your call whether to use a LiveUSB or LiveCD

[Impavidus]

It seems that nobody has mentioned it yet, but on Win8 machines you may have to turn off fast boot and/or secure boot.

[amjjawad]

It seems that nobody has mentioned it yet, but on Win8 machines you may have to turn off fast boot and/or secure boot.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI

I think you are right

[buzzingrobot]

That AMD CPU is not exactly a speedster, so that will impact performance with Windows or any other OS.

If you check out Ubuntu by booting a live image on a CD/DVD, remember that any activity that needs to pull something off the CD/DVD -- almost everything -- will be much slower than with an actual install. Running a live image off a CD/DVD is a good way of assessing Ubuntu without risking an installation, if you make allowances for CD/DVD drive grinding away in slow motion.

You might find that derivatives of Ubuntu that target lower-end hardware run faster. Lubuntu, for example, is built on an Ubuntu base, uses the same software respositories, etc., but replaces Unity with a less-demanding interface.

[bgast7851]

My computer is a Gateway SX2185-UB37. It has an E1-2500 APU with Radeon HD 8240 graphics. I can't even get it to boot in low graphics. I changed my monitor cable from DVI to HDMI back to VGA to see if that would help. It didn't. I really would like to get some distro running on this computer or maybe go back from Windows 8 to Windows 7

[phoyce2]

Hey there,

If you have reservations to "switch" to Ubuntu like others have said it is not an either or decision. When I first decided to try a flavor of Linux I burnt a Live CD. With a Live CD you can pop it in and boot to the CD. From there you can explore and evaluate Linux without installing it to the physical hard drive. Worth a shot.

[Jonathan Precise]

You probably have UEFI, and need to turn off fast-startup and need the 64-bit xubuntu DVD. At the grub menu, press 'e' to see a ton of text. Scroll down with the keyboard up and down buttons until you see something like:

 ... ro quiet splash

Change it to:

 ... ro nomodeset

Press F10, and the screen will blank, and fill with text. Wait. Then you will be logged in to Xubuntu. Install, then reboot. You will see the same grub menu, so do the same procedure.

To make permanent, install grub-customizer (run the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grub-customizer

).

Run it. Enter your password. Go to the "General settings" tab. In the "kernel parameters" section, change what it says in the text box to:

nomodeset

Hit "Save". You're done! Anything happens in the way, just tell us. We'll be glad to help.

[PaulBx]

We have one Win 8 box in the house. I can't believe what a piece of crap it is, even compared to Win 7. Ugh.

If you are just doing ordinary things, there is no need to put up with Windows. If you have any very specialized applications, like a point of sale terminal for example, you might be stuck. I'm not a huge fan of dual boot (although I often boot up Win machines with a Puppy Linux CD to perform some maintenance - that is pretty painless). Most dual boot setups seem to take an inordinate amount of fiddling to keep working. I'd say you should try Ubuntu; if you like it, just say "goodbye" to Windows. Maybe first roll Windows, the whole disk image in fact, into a compressed file on a backup disk just in case you need to put it back later for some reason.

BTW the nice thing about the Puppy CD is that it is loaded entirely into memory during operation, so it runs like a rocketship. That might give you an idea about the speed potential in your machine; however note that Puppy is about the fastest linux there is. It has no heavy-duty applications outside a standard browser and email client, so it's not for everyone. I like Lubuntu myself.