As far as the budget goes, Apple/Mac is going to be more expensive than Dell or any other Windows box you can buy (we're talking about hardware only) Then you have to take into account all of the software licenses.
For (Windows) software deployment, there is a free Dell tool called Image Direct. Basically you order one system and set it up the way you want it to create an image and then you can order systems directly from Dell with that image on it, and there's a free training and HelpDesk for assistance.
I know when I went to college, I used RedHat in the computer labs and all of our work was done on one flavour of GNU/Linux or another. The entire Physics & Sciences Labs were also running Linux. So if all of the books that teachers are using are teaching programs that are only available for Windows, then that answers your question on which OS to go with.
I wouldn't take into account which OS people like better or think would be easier to manage. Definitely go with which ones the students/teachers need, but if you do have a 'General' use Lab, you can save yourself a lot of money by buying systems that have a GNU/Linux OS on it, and there are hundreds of Free tools/apps that students can learn about and even use on Windows or OS X. To name a few, Inkscape, Gimp, Blender, OpenOffice, and not to mention all of the compilers that are readily available in most GNU/Linux OSes.
Anyway, I hope this helps and you don't get flooded with responses that say things like "Windows Sucks." etc. Good luck to you with whatever you decide.
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As far as the budget goes, Apple/Mac is going to be more expensive than Dell or any other Windows box you can buy (we're talking about hardware only) Then you have to take into account all of the software licenses.
For (Windows) software deployment, there is a free Dell tool called Image Direct. Basically you order one system and set it up the way you want it to create an image and then you can order systems directly from Dell with that image on it, and there's a free training and HelpDesk for assistance.
I know when I went to college, I used RedHat in the computer labs and all of our work was done on one flavour of GNU/Linux or another. The entire Physics & Sciences Labs were also running Linux. So if all of the books that teachers are using are teaching programs that are only available for Windows, then that answers your question on which OS to go with.
I wouldn't take into account which OS people like better or think would be easier to manage. Definitely go with which ones the students/teachers need, but if you do have a 'General' use Lab, you can save yourself a lot of money by buying systems that have a GNU/Linux OS on it, and there are hundreds of Free tools/apps that students can learn about and even use on Windows or OS X. To name a few, Inkscape, Gimp, Blender, OpenOffice, and not to mention all of the compilers that are readily available in most GNU/Linux OSes.
Anyway, I hope this helps and you don't get flooded with responses that say things like "Windows Sucks." etc. Good luck to you with whatever you decide.
—Kruz