Today I D/L Linux Cinnamon 64, I sent it to desktop as shortcut. When I right click on it it gives me the option to open as Virtual drive. What would this do if I opted to do this? Will it install linux permanently on my computer or could I just try it and if I do not like it could I somehow go back to my windows platform?

you downloaded a file that can be seen as a disk (probably .iso). If you mount as disk, it will show up just as if you had a CD or DVD in the computer. It wouldn't automatically take over & kill windows, but you could probably start that process (never use that flavor of linux).
Depending on what you downloaded, you could run as a 'live CD' where you computer would boot & you could test-drive linux without installing it ( you could still kill you windows install depending on what you did not the hard disk - I don't know your level of familiarity, so I'll put that caution up).
You could partition off a little space & 'dual boot' windows & linux, selecting whichever one you want each time you start the computer.

lots of options, depending on your desire & willingness to learn. What do you want to use linux for?

Cinnamon is a popular desktop environment found commonly on LinuxMint, or some distros of Fedora. It's based on Gnome. If you are running Linux from the DVD/CD, you can run it without any harm to your existing system. It can run independent of the installed OS, like Ubuntu, which gives you similar options. You can also install Cinnamon based OS's along side your current installation. You then must mount them. If you're just playing around, I would suggest you run it from the DVD/CD.

H&K-Guy

forgot to add - easiest way to try another OS, IMO is to install it to a thumb drive & boot from that. Just don't make changes to your OS drive & nothing will be left behind.

I have a multiboot USB stick using YUMI - I can boot linux (ubuntu, mint, etc), run MemTest, antivirus or other tools - and I can even install win7pro.

^ my YUMI based USB drive has been incredibly helpful and useful over these last few years. Multiple OSs that will run in RAM mode, various utilities including CloneZilla, the ability to reinstall Windows as needed, encrypted containers, all that and more, all on a 64GB thumb drive that still has room left on it for regular shit you'd use a thumb drive for.

It's incredible, frankly.