well i know nothing about spec or anything in depth about software but from a relatively uninformed point of view, i used pc's up until i was about 14, to be honest i didnt know any better, but i used to get annoyed by the fact they always crashed, and were a little slow and got virus's easily despite having updated norton etc. my dad was actually a computer technician at the time so it wasnt like we were operating on run of the mill machines. they were fine for gaming, word processing etc was fine and they were simple enough to use and applications functioned well when the computer wasnt being attacked by a virus (which i have to admit was a majority of the time, which was a mystery to everyone because as a family computer with technology conscious users was a little confusing) and it served us sufficiently.
when our pc broke down, we tried a mac desktop. it eliminated any problems with virus' and without the investment of norton, which was inefficient on our pc anyway. in general that computer has been far easier to maintain - its never gotten a virus and hasnt been in need of a repair at all. that said however, four years on, it is suffering a little, but nothing a memory tidy up wouldnt solve. i also have a macbook pro which i personally love. it functions well, is surprisingly hardy, has done me well through secondary school and sixth form and the applications available for download are impressive. it also looks nice which is a plus (although not important).
i still work with pc's at work and worked on them in college. i prefer my mac, but pc's suffice for browsing and schoolwork. i personally find microsoft office on mac easier to navigate, but thats possibly just what i'm used to. an addition which is worthwile investing in is applecare. i'm not sure if microsoft offer a similar thing, but with applecare, apple will repair your product free of charge (in most cases as far as i know) which at uni will be a life saver if something drastic happens and you cant afford to pay for a product to be fixed.
my dad who has been a pc user his whole life and was once pretty anti mac now wants to buy a mac. his work supplies him with pc's of the highest spec and he says he is constantly disappointed by the deterioration of the laptop within two years.
to be perfectly honest, if you can afford a mac, i'd buy one, purely for the quality of customer service. if anything goes wrong, mac will sort it asap. in that sense i think macs are less hassle, however in terms of general student use, you'd be fine with either. maintain a pc and spend time on making sure it is functioning to its best and i'm sure it will survive long enough to last you through uni