Install WSL2, do everything development under WSL2. It works very well. It even has x server forwarding now, and supports CUDA. No need for docker, simply use VSCode and the Remote SSH extension works natively with WSL2.
Just make sure to get at least 32gb of ram (most windows laptops you can upgrade the ram).
I paid 350€ for my Thinkpad E580 with i7 and 32GB of ram.
Having said that my attempt to bear a corporate windows on a corporate laptop with WSL2 was terrible and I ended up installing linux on it and using the online version of office 365. I would run Linux as a host OS and a windows VM for anything specific to windows. There are ways to share filesystems nowadays.
I dunno what you mean by "deal". You just install the required programs on it from your school, vscode and a chrome browser, and leave it alone. You dont have to manage it apart from occasional restarts for updates.
Whenever you wanna develop, just launch VSCode.
Once you are done with school, just install linux in it fully.
I don't know about the aesthetics, but it's "mostly reliable." It still breaks in undocumented and opaque ways from time to time, but that's life in the Windows ecosystem.
Depending on your budget I recently picked up a refurbished Thinkpad T580 with i7 / 32GB / 512GB for under €500. My first thinkpad and so far very impressed...
Install WSL2, do everything development under WSL2. It works very well. It even has x server forwarding now, and supports CUDA. No need for docker, simply use VSCode and the Remote SSH extension works natively with WSL2.
Just make sure to get at least 32gb of ram (most windows laptops you can upgrade the ram).