I don't think it's fair to call her an idiot in the sense that she couldn't work out Ubuntu, not knowing something doesn't equate to idiocy. Am I an idiot because I don't speak French? No, bilingualism is a skill, just as using an operating system is a skill.
That she trusted the Dell helpdesk with such a major decision and wasn't firm about what she wanted, and in spite of knowing she couldn't get it working in the first place, knowing her programs weren't compatible and the course requirements, still decided to keep using Ubuntu - well that's rather silly isn't it?
She could have done any number of things here - bought a copy of Windows and installed it herself, or had someone else do it. It's a bit rich to blame her dropping the course without even trying to fix the problem.
Some people aren't blessed with perspicacity.
And opinions are like arseholes - everyone has one.