"make a bootable image on there".
I think you ARE a tech guy. If you ask 90% of the population to make a bootable image on their 8+GB thumbdrive, you are going to get a blank stare back. Sure they might be able to figure it out if they google it and follow the instructions, but they will be close to going off the rails the entire time, and not really understand any of what they are doing. The second something happens that isn't explicitly in the instructions they are lost.
Linux is great for some things, but I'd personally never recommend it to an actual non-technical user, a minimal amount of their existing windows knowledge is going to be transferable, there is a good chance anything they want to install is not going to work on Linux, and the second something stops working they are going to be blocked. If they go to friends/family for help, unless someone there happens to know linux, no one will be able to help them.
google it and follow the instructions
This is precisely what I did. Not Joogle of course, but searched. I think you are over estimating the difficulty, it really is as simple as loading some songs on a thumbdrive to test drive Linux these days, and there is no danger to your existing OS.
I used to boot it off a thumb drive back in 08 so I’m familiar. No biggie.
The only reason modern tech is confusing is because it’s needlessly complex and made to be confusing and as proprietary as possible.
There's a lot more boot drive creators out there now: YUMI, LiLi, PenDriveLinux, UNetbootin, and all of them are very easy to use. Some of them even download the image automatically, so there's no messing around with getting the right image.
Plus there's a lot more info on the net for the amateur Linux user, as Windows 10 pushed a lot of people away with all of its bullshit.
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