My school, UNT, uses both Windows and Mac for all their labs. Blackboard, blackboard.com, is used to post grades, administer online quizzes, study materials, and has a BBS for students enrolled in the same class to contact one another. My.unt.edu allows students to administer their accounts, accept financial aid, pay/enroll/print/search classes, and even print transcripts (unofficial.) UNT also has online storage, and they recently handed their mail servers off to MSN. I am able to access all of these services from my home on my linux laptop.
I have not had luck with a VPN they were testing out last semester, but it turns out I never needed to use it anyway. As far as printing goes, you're going to have to use the labs anyway. Many classes, especially in the College of Business, use software that runs exclusively on Windows (and Mac.) Photoshop, Office XP (had a real nightmare with.docx when it first came out,) Wolfram Mathematica, Hawkes Learning Systems, etc etc.
The textbooks usuallly come bundled with software (for Windows,) but again you are better off using the labs. There is nothing to configure, install, uninstall, or register. Walk in, hand them your ID, and use all their software. When it comes time to sell the books (assuming they haven't changed editions on you, and that's a big assumption,) all that trial software they tried to sucker you in with to diminish the value of your book is still in it's original case, unused.
I never take the laptop to school. The WiFi works fine on the laptop computer, but I don't find it necessary to lug around a laptop when the campus is littered with computer labs. The online storage has an ill-designed interface, but a thumbdrive (NTFS, of course) will solve your compatibility issues. Better to do the work at school anyways, less distractions, and the drab furnishings and lightings are a real motivator to get the work done and go home.
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My school, UNT, uses both Windows and Mac for all their labs. Blackboard, blackboard.com, is used to post grades, administer online quizzes, study materials, and has a BBS for students enrolled in the same class to contact one another. My.unt.edu allows students to administer their accounts, accept financial aid, pay/enroll/print/search classes, and even print transcripts (unofficial.) UNT also has online storage, and they recently handed their mail servers off to MSN. I am able to access all of these services from my home on my linux laptop. I have not had luck with a VPN they were testing out last semester, but it turns out I never needed to use it anyway. As far as printing goes, you're going to have to use the labs anyway. Many classes, especially in the College of Business, use software that runs exclusively on Windows (and Mac.) Photoshop, Office XP (had a real nightmare with .docx when it first came out,) Wolfram Mathematica, Hawkes Learning Systems, etc etc.
The textbooks usuallly come bundled with software (for Windows,) but again you are better off using the labs. There is nothing to configure, install, uninstall, or register. Walk in, hand them your ID, and use all their software. When it comes time to sell the books (assuming they haven't changed editions on you, and that's a big assumption,) all that trial software they tried to sucker you in with to diminish the value of your book is still in it's original case, unused.
I never take the laptop to school. The WiFi works fine on the laptop computer, but I don't find it necessary to lug around a laptop when the campus is littered with computer labs. The online storage has an ill-designed interface, but a thumbdrive (NTFS, of course) will solve your compatibility issues. Better to do the work at school anyways, less distractions, and the drab furnishings and lightings are a real motivator to get the work done and go home.