I have an old computer (2008) that has 2 GB of RAM. I clean-installed Windows 8.0 32-bit on it, and it ran really well. I then did the upgrade to Windows 8.1, and the ride got bumpy. I went back to 8.0, and I had smooth (and fast) sailing from that point forward.
I now have Linux Lite on that computer. It works really well. But if Microsoft would support Windows 8.0, I would go back to it, because it ran so well.
On my Dell laptop, I have Windows 8.1, and it runs well. But 8.1 doesn't run well on every computer; on some computers 8.0 runs a lot better.
I think you should try out Linux Mint, as you are considering doing. If you like it, you could always install Linux Mint as your primary OS, and then install Windows 8.0 as a virtual machine. On my main computer, I have Linux Mint 18.2 as my primary OS, and I have Windows 8.1 installed in a virtual machine. This system works very well for me, because, although I can do most things in Linux, I can't do everything; and for those things, Windows is just a click away.
I use VMWare Workstation Player as my virtual machine software. If you decide to go the virtual machine route as I have described above, make sure you install 64-bit Linux Mint as your host OS, not 32-bit Linux Mint, because VMWare requires that you have 64-bit Linux as your host system. They quit developing for 32-bit a long time ago.
Linux Mint is an excellent choice. I went with the xfce interface, because they say it is more lightweight (i.e. faster) than the other interfaces.
Before you do any of the above, make sure that you have all of your install keys written down, such as your Windows 8.0 install key, so that you can install Windows in the vm. Also, get the install key for any other software that you want to install in the Windows VM.
And be sure to do a complete backup of your 8.0 session.
You could probably go with Windows 8.1 in the VM. After installing Linux Mint, download the Windows 8.1 ISO, create a new VM, and tell the VM where the ISO is located. Put in your 8.0 install key. Hit "Go". In about 5 minutes, you will have a ready-to-use Windows 8.1 session! But if that doesn't work for you, you can always delete the 8.1 VM and do a new one with 8.0.