My first recommendation will be similar to what others have suggested...check with the school (or schools, if you have not picked one yet) you are planning on attending. Some schools offer specific recommendations due to particular uses and they way their systems are setup. While in today's world, it is not any where near as difficult to interject something like a Mac into a non-Mac environment, it can still present some "issues". Thus, if the school you are going to attend has a strong preference or recommendation, that might cause you to look in another direction. It is also a good idea to check with the school to see if they have any special buying programs or discounts for students. A lot of schools have special deals that they have arranged for with specific computer manufacturers. And if you do decide to go the route of a Mac, then a lot of schools give you the abilty to purchase at Mac at the "educational" price, which will save you some money. As to your questions about a Mac (both here and in your PM), a Mac running Bootcamp with Windows is literally no different (OK, virtually no different) than a Dell or HP or Gateway or whatever running Windows. When you run Windows in Bootcamp on a Intel based Mac, it IS a Windows computer...just happens to be made by Apple. The only functional difference at that point is that 1) it has EFI instead of BIOS and 2) you will be able to re-boot it and boot into the Mac OS (which actually can b ...
Anytime
My first recommendation will be similar to what others have suggested...check with the school (or schools, if you have not picked one yet) you are planning on attending. Some schools offer specific recommendations due to particular uses and they way their systems are setup. While in today's world, it is not any where near as difficult to interject something like a Mac into a non-Mac environment, it can still present some "issues". Thus, if the school you are going to attend has a strong preference or recommendation, that might cause you to look in another direction. It is also a good idea to check with the school to see if they have any special buying programs or discounts for students. A lot of schools have special deals that they have arranged for with specific computer manufacturers. And if you do decide to go the route of a Mac, then a lot of schools give you the abilty to purchase at Mac at the "educational" price, which will save you some money. As to your questions about a Mac (both here and in your PM), a Mac running Bootcamp with Windows is literally no different (OK, virtually no different) than a Dell or HP or Gateway or whatever running Windows. When you run Windows in Bootcamp on a Intel based Mac, it IS a Windows computer...just happens to be made by Apple. The only functional difference at that point is that 1) it has EFI instead of BIOS and 2) you will be able to re-boot it and boot into the Mac OS (which actually can b ...