Phoenix.Lillicarnage said:
»My professor just told the class "It is impossible to format a thumbdrive as NTFS, so you can not install an OS on one."
you can. its just complicated.
it's not complicated at all.
now to make a live usb disk? that's something different, but also possible.
to install a whole OS to a usb disk? possible, but pretty stupid to do, unless it's a "mini windows xp/7" or a "live cd" as you'd need compatible drivers for each system you plug it in.
as for installing from a USB I like it sometimes, however for me most of the time it's simpler to just burn a disk, for XP anyway, for 7, usb booting is simple enough.