Programming has very low hardware requirements, much lower than web browsing. Just don’t get sucket into the whole maelstrom of people trying to convince you that you need a bunch of complicated tools. If you are just stating out, Gedit or equivalent will work out just fine.

In terms of operating systems, if given the choice professionals tend to congregate around Linux and MacOS as the development experience historicaly has been much better due to having access to a proper terminal. This is something you want to familiarize yourself with if you haven’t already. Other factors may apply, especially in professional environments, where clients / employers mandate the use of Windows or something else, but this probably does not apply to you.

Universities usually have their curriculum, which is rather narrow in the beginning and widens in later terms, especially in masters classes. When it comes to teaching fundamentals, language and tools really does not matter much. It’s more about keeping things manageable for the teacher.