Library Science program

I was accepted at Wayne State's Master's Degree of Library Science program! (I handed the letter to my mom and asked her, "Does this say what I think it's saying?") Boy, I'm going to sleep well tonight! I have a future; now I just need to navigate the present....

Question

For the online Master's Degree program, I need a laptop running XP Professional or Vista Ultimate. (I prefer XP given all I've heard about Vista.) I'd rather not install XP myself. It also needs Microsoft Office. Is there somewhere other than Dell that I can get such a business laptop? I'm leery of Dell because my last Dell was a piece of junk. Any thoughts?