Perhaps they referenced this guide to create a bootable Live USB on Windows, allowing them to test drive something like Ubuntu without making any changes to their PC.

Create a bootable Linux USB from macOS Plug the USB drive into your Mac system and open the Terminal app (just search for Terminal in Spotlight).

Creating a bootable USB drive let's you get hands-on experience with Linux without necessarily overwriting your system.

The only real work you need to do to run Linux off a CD, DVD, or USB stick is to place the distribution on the boot-media in the first place.

I swear every time I try Linux .... Grrrrrr! Ubuntu 12.10 live cd. I'm simply trying to make a bootable USB thumb drive. That's it. First attempt: live cd boots okay, I insert my (fat32 formatted ...

PC that boots from USB —It doesn't much matter what OS it's running, but you can create the live USB stick from Windows or Linux.