16gb windows laptop or 8gb Macbook air?

I’m an incoming college freshman, and I’m deciding which laptop to buy.

I’m thinking of getting a base model of either macbook air m1 or m2, however I’ve been reading posts here saying 8gb ram won’t be enough and 16gb is more adequate. Budget can only afford base model m2 macbook air, so getting 16gb ram would be too much.

So I’m having the option of buying a windows laptop instead, specifically Lenovo ideapad 5 or lenovo laptops. The price ranges the same with the macbook base model but with more storage and memory.

Im conflicted which laptop to buy, does 8gb ram macbook air would suffice? Especially if I’m gonna use it throughout my 4 years of college and my major is Accounting Information Systems. So a lot of excels and a bit of programming, i might also do light gaming, like genshin impact or sims.

Should i go for macbook or windows laptop?