Went with Linux Mint 17.1 XFCE, my favorite distribution of Linux so far.
Went 100% Linux on my trusty old ASUS laptop today after running into some driver trouble with Windows 8. I could go back to Windows 7, which works great, but I've been using Linux almost 90% of the time by dual-booting anyway.Went with Linux Mint 17.1 XFCE, my favorite distribution of Linux so far. Used one of the (both numerous and excellent) stock wallpapers, made some changes to the general appearance, and added a very cool, very simple hardware monitor....
I see you've got Conky running on that system. Did you find a GPU temp monitor? Nothing on that Conky shows the temp.