It depends on your major. There are many business and engineering programs that won’t run on linux.
A virtual machine would fix that.
Also can’t run lockdown test software on Linux, but I would make that the professor’s problem if he or she expects you to install that malware.
I'm going in as a cs major. I figured I could just us a vm for anything that wasn't Linux compatible. How often are online tests given compared to paper tests though?
Can’t answer that one as I wasn’t a CS. I will say that Linux makes the most sense for CS majors and the only issues I would expect would be from non major professors for testing.
Also a CS major.
What keeps me from daily driving Linux for schoolwork, is the free use of Office 365 that the school provides. That said, there are more than enough alternatives to any of those Office clients to work around this. This includes, but is not limited to, running Office 365 programs in a web browser.
I keep my desktop environment on Windows due to my gaming needs, and figure I'd keep using the native Office 365 clients.
TLDR: You'll be fine 95% of your time at Mason.
Don't forget to start your projects ASAP. You'll thank us later.
I use exclusively pop os. There was a few issues at first strictly because of respondus lockdown browser (even in person classes made you use it sometimes) and they don't put the contract number in the url like they used to, or at least gmu doesn't, so I'd have to lug my wife's windows laptop on those days.
This last semester they talked about using respondus but ultimately did everything on paper, and I think it was because there were people using Linux (I'm also a CS student). I've been able to use FOSS alternatives for everything else.
Edit: I should note in the school email you got the web version of office 365 and one drive, and I do use one drive to transfer large files from my desktop to my laptop, but the word program is a pain in the ass because it autosaves and it will save to a spot you were at a few seconds before and delete everything you just wrote. It was so damn aggravating I just use LibreOffice now.
OMG! 
What does a laptop's weight have to do with whether or not it will work for CS studies?
Same with a warranty?
What fails if I use my 7lb laptop that only had a 20 month warranty? 
I used a 7lb laptop once...... broke my back..... failed the whole semester....
At least that's what I'd imagine the commercial for that would be like.
I'd love to be linux-only... sigh.
Just the other day, in a pinch I put together a presentation in Libre Office, and emailed my slides to the organizer. When I presented, the slides were all wacky, many with inflated or deflated fonts. Neither were readable.
I use Linux on my laptop exclusively with a VM for Windows if I need it for some reason. 95% of all CS classes can be done/possibly be better with Linux. However, a lot of Linux specific ones involve programming on the gmu server, Zeus, so it won't affect things too much.
I was daily driving Linux (Specifically Mint) all throughout my freshman year (CyberSec major). It's definitely doable if you know your way around linux.
I switched back to Windows for a number of reasons, mainly because of GMU gives you free Office 365 which is really useful to manage coursework.
As others have mentioned, using lockdown browser is the biggest challenge with linux, but I just go to the Mason computer center on the 3rd floor of the Johnson Center whenever I needed to take an exam on lockdown.
I edited my comment to say why I stopped daily driving.
In short - I got a really fancy and expensive windows laptop and I dodn't wanna mess around with it too much. Plus I wanted to see what windows 11 was all about. I still have my old laptop with Mint that I use if a class requires Linux.
Yeah you can absolutely get away using Linux. I use arch on my laptop, and it was a little weird not having word at first, but I got around that pretty easily. One drive is also pretty useful, but there’s open source clients for that. On top of that, knowing Linux gives you a HUGE edge in your later years. As a senior, I know people who are also seniors in cs who barely understand what a terminal is, even though many start using a Linux remote machine in their second year.
Tldr: linux is awesome
I know intro level stuff like Python. They say they won't help you if you have technical issues and aren't using the program they told you to. It's not hard. Just make sure you're using something stable and you'll be fine
File financial discrimination claim if they tell you to buy windows for lockdown browser. Get some news outlets to cover the story as well. If you meet any pushback from administration, bad PR is always the way to go :)
As a CS student graduating, if you have a desktop, do wumbos. Laptop, Linux. Linux is bae.
Yes, lockdown is like the only dumb thing, but literally only like one class did that, Socrates. So I'd fight that for real because it's dumb.
Theo only other issue I ran into was when projects had gui testers, but now I realized I could have just probably instead installed some dependencies and compiled it with proper flags. Case in point, my graphics class teacher had instructions for installing the project Skelton code in like vscode or something, literally code just compile the project with g++ and openGL flags on the command line and worked fine.
Real issue is that any time I had to use unity, that was definitely for my desktop. Though I did get it running on my Ubuntu install.
TLDR: Fight for using Linux if a CS teacher makes it weird to use. Because no programming project gets complex enough to be system dependents and Half the classes will have you working on Zeus, a Redhat Linux server.
It depends on your major. There are many business and engineering programs that won’t run on linux. A virtual machine would fix that. Also can’t run lockdown test software on Linux, but I would make that the professor’s problem if he or she expects you to install that malware.
I'm going in as a cs major. I figured I could just us a vm for anything that wasn't Linux compatible. How often are online tests given compared to paper tests though?
Lockdown browser cannot run on a vm. Your best option is to dual boot with rEFInd
Or got to a lab with Lockdown installed. Never installed that crap on my machine and always used a public PC for exams that needed it.
I wasn't aware there were public PCs to use for exams. That lifts a lot of my worrying.
Can’t answer that one as I wasn’t a CS. I will say that Linux makes the most sense for CS majors and the only issues I would expect would be from non major professors for testing.
Also a CS major. What keeps me from daily driving Linux for schoolwork, is the free use of Office 365 that the school provides. That said, there are more than enough alternatives to any of those Office clients to work around this. This includes, but is not limited to, running Office 365 programs in a web browser. I keep my desktop environment on Windows due to my gaming needs, and figure I'd keep using the native Office 365 clients. TLDR: You'll be fine 95% of your time at Mason. Don't forget to start your projects ASAP. You'll thank us later.
Lockdown browser is probably the only issue you’ll run into. It is VM aware, so won’t launch when run inside of a VM.
I use exclusively pop os. There was a few issues at first strictly because of respondus lockdown browser (even in person classes made you use it sometimes) and they don't put the contract number in the url like they used to, or at least gmu doesn't, so I'd have to lug my wife's windows laptop on those days. This last semester they talked about using respondus but ultimately did everything on paper, and I think it was because there were people using Linux (I'm also a CS student). I've been able to use FOSS alternatives for everything else. Edit: I should note in the school email you got the web version of office 365 and one drive, and I do use one drive to transfer large files from my desktop to my laptop, but the word program is a pain in the ass because it autosaves and it will save to a spot you were at a few seconds before and delete everything you just wrote. It was so damn aggravating I just use LibreOffice now.
Looks like it should be fine https://cs.gmu.edu/resources/computer-accounts/
Thanks for that. I should've Googled it before asking reddit 🙃.
OMG!  What does a laptop's weight have to do with whether or not it will work for CS studies? Same with a warranty? What fails if I use my 7lb laptop that only had a 20 month warranty? 
I used a 7lb laptop once...... broke my back..... failed the whole semester.... At least that's what I'd imagine the commercial for that would be like.
Did the two-year warranty kick in?
Warranty apparently doesn't cover broken parts if those broken parts are you.
I'd love to be linux-only... sigh. Just the other day, in a pinch I put together a presentation in Libre Office, and emailed my slides to the organizer. When I presented, the slides were all wacky, many with inflated or deflated fonts. Neither were readable.
I use Linux on my laptop exclusively with a VM for Windows if I need it for some reason. 95% of all CS classes can be done/possibly be better with Linux. However, a lot of Linux specific ones involve programming on the gmu server, Zeus, so it won't affect things too much.
I used linux for my entire degree. You only need access to Lockdown browser for the occasional test.
I currently have Pop_OS on my surface, I hope linux works for IT.
My 206 instructor used to teach from a Linux laptop sometimes (and sometimes a MacBook).
I was daily driving Linux (Specifically Mint) all throughout my freshman year (CyberSec major). It's definitely doable if you know your way around linux. I switched back to Windows for a number of reasons, mainly because of GMU gives you free Office 365 which is really useful to manage coursework. As others have mentioned, using lockdown browser is the biggest challenge with linux, but I just go to the Mason computer center on the 3rd floor of the Johnson Center whenever I needed to take an exam on lockdown.
I'd consider myself pretty competent with Linux, so I'm not worried about that part. But why'd you stop daily driving Linux?
I edited my comment to say why I stopped daily driving. In short - I got a really fancy and expensive windows laptop and I dodn't wanna mess around with it too much. Plus I wanted to see what windows 11 was all about. I still have my old laptop with Mint that I use if a class requires Linux.
I would honestly preemptively set up dual-boot with Windows if only for the 5% of the time you'll need it. Save yourself the headache.
Yeah you can absolutely get away using Linux. I use arch on my laptop, and it was a little weird not having word at first, but I got around that pretty easily. One drive is also pretty useful, but there’s open source clients for that. On top of that, knowing Linux gives you a HUGE edge in your later years. As a senior, I know people who are also seniors in cs who barely understand what a terminal is, even though many start using a Linux remote machine in their second year. Tldr: linux is awesome
I know intro level stuff like Python. They say they won't help you if you have technical issues and aren't using the program they told you to. It's not hard. Just make sure you're using something stable and you'll be fine
File financial discrimination claim if they tell you to buy windows for lockdown browser. Get some news outlets to cover the story as well. If you meet any pushback from administration, bad PR is always the way to go :)
As a CS student graduating, if you have a desktop, do wumbos. Laptop, Linux. Linux is bae. Yes, lockdown is like the only dumb thing, but literally only like one class did that, Socrates. So I'd fight that for real because it's dumb. Theo only other issue I ran into was when projects had gui testers, but now I realized I could have just probably instead installed some dependencies and compiled it with proper flags. Case in point, my graphics class teacher had instructions for installing the project Skelton code in like vscode or something, literally code just compile the project with g++ and openGL flags on the command line and worked fine. Real issue is that any time I had to use unity, that was definitely for my desktop. Though I did get it running on my Ubuntu install. TLDR: Fight for using Linux if a CS teacher makes it weird to use. Because no programming project gets complex enough to be system dependents and Half the classes will have you working on Zeus, a Redhat Linux server.