How To Run Linux From A Portable USB Drive On A Windows Computer

Linux is something new to me, until this weekend I had never tried or used it, but slowly I am starting to get my head around working with it, and the more that I use it, the more I like it.
I find that it's a lot faster than Windows 7. It has never frozen me out (yet), and it's a bit like chocolate, there is so many varieties, it's hard to decide which I like best.
So what got me interested in Linux? To be honest it was running this blog. When I looked at the stats for the site I noticed that most people used either Windows or Mac based operating systems, But I was also surprised to see that quite a lot of visitors used Linux. This made me think that I may be missing out on something. So I decided to investigate.
My problem was, I didn't want to have to wipe my computer to try something that I may not like, and then have to re-install Windows. So after a quick search on Google I found that I could run Linux in one of two ways without having to lose my Windows system.
The first method was to run Linux from a USB or Pen drive.
If you go to www.pendrivelinux.com they have all the information that you will need to run Linux from a USB Device. All you need is a USB stick of at least 2 gig, and you can be up and running in Linux in less that 15 minutes.
The Second Method
The second method is to install a partition on my computer so that when the machine is booted up you can decide which operating system you would like to run.
This sounds very complicated but it isn't, if you follow a few simple instructions on the Ubuntu Website once you have decided which method of install you want to use, you will be up and running in no time.
Do I think that Linux is the way forward for me? At this moment in time I don't know, but I intend to throw some time and effort into learning more about it before I spend a lot of money upgrading my Windows operating system to the new Windows 8 that is be due to be released soon.
At the moment I am running a PC, a Laptop and the children's two Laptop's on Windows 7. I know that I don't have to upgrade my systems just because a new one has been released, but we all like to run the latest and most up-to-date software available. With Linux it is updated on a regular basis and it's FREE !!!
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