ask your school what they recommend. When I was in school, autocad (windows) was the norm. The school decided that they were going to push FromZ. All the incomming students were made to buy macs...

We used FormZ and Max in school, some used Maya.

I'd recommend a Dell M90, but it's expensive. I love mine, though.

Might as well go with Vista, if you can wait a few months to make sure all the drivers are out there.

So far, most I've seen talk about it (in the graphics world), like it a lot.

If you go Mac make sure and get a Mac Book Pro. But as mdler said check with the school and see what they recommend/require.

What programs do you need to run?

iBooks were replaced by MacBooks last year.
WindowsME hasn't been sold on a computer for about four years.

You might need to do a little research first.

Guess I do, agfa8x. I do need to research, just wanted some prior input so that I can know what to research.

broad, general advice:

RAM: 1GB minimum, 2+ ideally
HDD: as big as you can afford (they fill up quick). speed secondary factor
video card: dedicated video card, not integrated graphics
processor: Core 2 Duo is current. Core Duo is old. Don't touch a Pentium 4 with a barge-pole.

mac/pc: whichever one you are most comfortable with. remember you can install windows on a mac if you want. if you are using mostly windows-only programs, it's probably not worth it.

OldFog: I love the mini itx, but I've never seen that before!

I always planned on putting one inside some inane desktop object. Kleenex box, perhaps?

Can't beat the price of Kaypro 2's on offer at Ebay.

with an automatic inflatable pillow ( something like a car-crash airbag ) attached to its keyboard.

Whatever allows you to outsource your stuff to singapore.