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In Europe the norm is to do a Master after a Bachelor, some Master programmes are heavily research oriented and can give you a taste of what's to come if you choose to keep following that path. (I definitely agree with the point you're making, just pointing out that there are different possibilities)

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Its pretty standard in the US (at least in the fields I am familiar with) that if you quit a PhD program you can still leave with a Master's if you've been in the program for long enough.

Not in Texas A&M math department, for example, at least a few years ago.

It is the literal truth for the CS dept at UT Austin, as of when I was there a 10 or so years ago. They didn't have a real Masters program; the Masters was regarded as a consolation prize when you left the PhD program.

Edit: To be honest, I got in by telling the graduate advisor that I would rather be in a Masters program there than a PhD program elsewhere.

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