Dont get Vista unless you want to play a lot of games or have some OS specific programs.
For the tasks you listed, you dont need the top of the line computer. Please tell us what are the high end apps you are going to run.
If you max out the RAM in the MAcbook, then I think you are good to go.
If you have graphics intensive programs then a Macbook Pro would be better.
Please tell us your price range and by when you need the laptop and what are the apps that you will run that are significantly important.
Hi I'm interested in buy my first laptop for mr college days, I want something that's top of the line, I need the laptop for word processing, powerpoint, alot of music downloads and web browsing, so would you guys recommend a MacBook,MacBook Pro, or a Dell running windows vista. I want to be able to run multiple programs with out a lot of freezing and smooth operation.

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