I did see someone else suggest this. I guess it sounds a bit timid but the idea kind of freaked me out. I'd feel ok doing this on a desktop PC but I feel like trying to boot from a USB drive on a Mac is going to run in to all kinds of headaches and nasty surprises and I'm worried I could brick a very expensive piece of machinery. I guess this particular fear is what people are talking about when they say they don't feel like they really own their computer unless they're using linux. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing, is there anything to it other than plugging in a usb and starting up the machine?