Read my post and discount everyone else in this thread because they don't know what they are talking about.
The MacBook runs on Intel architecture just like most Windows laptops. In terms of bang for the buck, you get a bigger bang for the buck with a MacBook than you do with other laptops. The chips used in the macbook are dual core and pretty high end for the laptop market. Intel actually made a deal with Apple to provide them with the better chips before any other manufacturer like Dell.
The only thing that the MacBook does not have is a dedicated graphics unit because it integrates it. That will not affect you and won't affect most people. To have that you need to spend more to buy the MacBook pro and then you don't get the same bang for the buck.
As for taking it to class and home, the MacBooks have bluetooth so you can buy a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and leave them at home. They wirelessly link to your laptop.
Apple OS X is the operating system for Macs. Software like Microsoft Office was created specifically to run on this operating system. It's considered much more advanced than Windows and much safer. But given that the new Macs all use Intel chips, you can run Microsoft Windows on them. That means they run ALL (not some) of the Windows software out there.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/
And even before Macs had Intel chips, they used powerpc architecture. There were programs that created virtual environments that allowed for Windows to run on them, albeit in a slower fashion, but unless you were doing multimedia or hardcore data mining work, that speed wasn't an issue.
So in other words, kddani does not know what she is talking about and should apologize to you for leading you astray
-Rudey