

Yes, you can try a copy of Linux from a USB flash drive and then shut down the computer, pull out the drive, and boot right back into Windows as if nothing had ever happened. The installation process is typically a desktop icon on the Linux distro; if you don’t touch that icon, then it’s all temporary. Glad to be of help!



















I don’t actually know if anything you try in the test state saves to the flash drive, sorry! But I know that if you try it, then shut down the PC and boot it with the drive removed, it will return to your copy of Windows like nothing happened since the last time you were on Windows.
I don’t understand what you mean by “Mint version” and “distro version”; they’re the same thing, I think.