Whonix on bootable OS + a couple of other questions

Hello. I’ve been reading on Whonix and how it works etc. I don’t have profound IT knowledge so please speak in laymanish.

So I would like to have a USB stick with a host OS and Whonix on it. Of what I understand this is quite doable.
Question 1: If I boot this USB stick on a machine that is running Windows or say, a public pc or just anything that hasn’t been secured - could this compromise my anonymity and my bootable OS?

Question 2: Can you please recommend a Linux OS that would be most suitable for this purpose? I am looking at Xubuntu, but actually I have no clue. The bootable OS with Whonix would be a Whonix dedicated system.

Thanks

[quote=“glove, post:1, topic:371”]So I would like to have a USB stick with a host OS and Whonix on it. Of what I understand this is quite doable.
Question 1: If I boot this USB stick on a machine that is running Windows or say, a public pc or just anything that hasn’t been secured - could this compromise my anonymity and my bootable OS?[/quote]
Unless there is a hardware backdoor such as a hardware keylogger and/or miniature camera etc. this is fine. So I’d be careful using public computers.

A computer that you haven’t used for something else before in theory is safer - since hardware compromise is less likely. I don’t know how theoretic that is.

Question 2: Can you please recommend a Linux OS that would be most suitable for this purpose?
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Pre_Install_Advice#Which_host_operating_system_do_you_recommend.3F