[solardev]

Why does the school recommend Windows unless your classes specifically need them (for certain software)?

A Mac is a much much better choice these days, any of the Apple Silicon stuff with at least 16 but preferably 32 gigs of RAM. Used if the new stuff is too expensive. No Intel or AMD comes close, and Windows is ad-infested trashware.

If you absolutely need x86 for some reason, then maybe a ThinkPad, and put Linux on it.

Don't get some generic cheap Windows laptop. It'll only slow you down and load a bunch of useless apps at startup and bombard you with ads and have terrible battery life and no support and moving parts that crap out after a year or two.

If you need gaming, use GeForce Now rather than the expense, heat, and battery usage of a dedicated GPU. The Apple Silicon GPUs are decent but you can only emulate x86 games on them via Rosetta or Crossover and neither is great.