yeah a debian or buntu vm will suffice.
better still dual or multiboot win and linux or win and win.
Don't downgrade.
Why bother when you can dual boot your win8 with win 7 or win8 with xp even? I wouldn't bother investing the time or money downgrading considering your family is already used to win8.
It simply means you get yours and your family's cake and everybody gets to eat it too by having what they want/need and by having what you want/need. Doesn't have to be an "either" "or" scenario.

And I think for your particular sitch.
the best idea would be a full linux distro on a usb stick. (a persistent distro at that...meaning it would remember what you did the last time you used it and you can make changes to it that stay...)
Just change your boot order to usb to 1st place...
put the designated usb stick in ...
reboot your comp.
voila ...linux on tap.
shut down or reboot computer..
take linux stick out...
voila....win8 is there.
It's non-invasive and it doesn't touch your win8 system at all...but it allows you to utilize what you need to.
In fact I think I remember puttering with a win7 os on a usb stick a few years back..there is another option too.
But yeah I'd just go with something easy to work with if linux isn't familiar ground for you ...say buntu...which usually runs really well on just about anything out of the box and just install it on a usb and go to town.
I'd do a bit of research to see what os-on-usb program works for you, works for your computer ie.- brand, model, year, wifi make (broadcom is notorious for not playing nice with linux but there are forums discussing solutions to broadcom wifi issues and specific comp. models), video cards, etc.
Usually if you do a giggle search for say "linux distros for _ _ _ _ (your model) ...you should get a plethora of results.
Out of the linux options that are known to function well on your specific system ... try em out on usb or dvd until you feel comfy with a distro. and go to town and have some exploratory fun ...it's alot less invasive, time and money consuming and alot less draining psych, emotionally and physically than messing with more unnecessary windows drama.