I'm an Ubuntu user since Hardy Heron and even in other distros, I've never been through such thing. I can't install Ubuntu 10.10 on my notebook, because I simply can't even start the Live CD… I always get the following message:
Kernel panic – not syncing attempted to kill init!
See the complete message in this pic:
Best Answer
Maybe this is a bug as txwikinger wrote. But sometimes the CD was not burnt correctly or has some scratches on it. You should try burning Ubuntu to another CD and boot again.