I have a laptop with windows 8.1 on it, but i also need to be able to use Ubuntu conveniently. Is there an actual proper way to do this because most of the places i have looked give different methods and services and such. I currently have Ubuntu on a external flash drive but would like a more permanent solution to this.
also last time i tried whenever i booted into Ubuntu, it would show the screen that says something like do you want to install even though i installed it last time i booted into it.
How would you like your Ubuntu installed? Would you like it to share a drive with Windows or to be on a separate hard drive?
Also, it is worth mentioning that grub doesn't play nice with UEFI at the moment and secureboot Windows 8.1. I got it working, but it wasn't quite seamless (I need to use F12 on start up to choose my OS rather than choosing through grub).
If you need windows for certain programs but mostly use ubuntu on your laptop, a virtual machine might be the way to go. That way windows cant do anything you don't want it to. If you need it for gaming you can do linux in a virtual machine. The benefits are that you wont have to restart your computer everytime you need to switch but the drawbacks are limited functionality with certain things. I haven't tried gaming in a virtual box but some claim great success. I would think the installation for 8.1 is the same as it is in 7 but would need verification. I had to use easyBCD to make windows play nice when I did it the first time.
Oh, an another thing - are you installing on a desktop or laptop? If you have a laptop that uses GPU switching (i.e. Nvidia Optimus) then Ubuntu is a pain the balls. Sabayon is better if this is the case (thanks to Zoltan in another thread for recommending it).