I have Firefox on my home laptop, but Internet Explorer on my office laptop. Can I transfer my Firefox bookmarks on my home computer to IE on my office computer using the Foxmarks bookmark-synchronization service you recommended? And how would I go about doing it?

Yes. You start by uploading your bookmarks from Firefox at home to your Foxmarks Web account, using the Firefox version of Foxmarks. That will establish the bookmark collection on the Web site as identical to your Firefox collection. Then, you install the IE version of Foxmarks on your office computer, and, when it prompts you to sync, you can either merge the Web-based bookmarks you previously uploaded from Firefox with the ones already on IE, or choose the option to overwrite the IE bookmarks entirely with the ones online.

Does the Foxmarks service work with AOL’s browser bookmarks?

AOL’s browser is not supported. Neither are some other browsers, such as Opera or Google’s Chrome. Foxmarks currently comes in versions only for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari (Mac version only). The Firefox version also works with Flock, which is a browser heavily based on Firefox.

Do you have any idea what the realistic hardware requirements will be to run Windows 7?

Microsoft hasn’t announced these yet. But the requirements for the current beta version are likely to be similar to those for the final release. The beta hardware requirements are: a 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor; 1 GB of system memory; 16 GB of available disk space; support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory available for graphics; and a DVD-R/W Drive.

In the past, Microsoft’s minimum requirements have tended to understate what’s needed to run Windows well, even when doing typical tasks. It’s too early to say if this will be true of Windows 7. But I can say that, in my testing so far, the beta of Windows 7 runs much more quickly and smoothly than Vista on the same hardware.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability.

I am going to start college in the fall and I need a laptop. Uncle Jim, who is a Mac addict, is making an argument for a MacBook with Parallels 3.0 and Windows XP installed. He said that way I would have the best of both worlds. My mom is looking at the price. She said we could get a PC for less money but I want to make sure we’re making the right decision. If money is not an issue, what is your recommendation?

Both your mom and your uncle are correct. You can indeed get a decent laptop from Dell or Hewlett-Packard for less than the $1,099 that Apple’s least expensive Mac laptop, the MacBook, costs. But, in my view, the Mac has a better, faster operating system, better built-in software, and is far less likely to expose you to viruses and other malicious software. Plus, the MacBook itself is a sturdy piece of hardware. And there’s a very good Mac version of Microsoft Office that is fully compatible with files created on the Windows version.

Your uncle is also correct that Macs can run Windows, and Windows software, quite well. However, the solution he suggests, using the Parallels software, which enables Windows use on a Mac, will add significantly to the price. Parallels costs around $60, and you also must buy a full, boxed edition of Windows XP or Vista. While prices for Windows vary, this full version (not an upgrade version) of XP can cost nearly $200, and Vista typically costs more.

So, if money really isn’t an issue, I recommend the MacBook. But, since that is rarely the case in real life, you might want to weigh the cheaper alternatives more carefully. Or, if you do buy the MacBook, I’d hold off on the Windows installation until and unless you find you need Windows programs that have no counterpart on the Mac. The average undergraduate likely won’t.

I am dissatisfied with my Internet service provider and I would like to switch to another one. If I switch, can I keep the same email address? Do I have to keep paying the old ISP if I switch and keep the email address?

It depends on your ISP. If it is America Online, you will be able to drop AOL as your ISP and continue to use your aol.com address, regardless of which provider you use to access the Internet. But, in most cases, if you are using the email address provided by your ISP, you will have to relinquish it. However, I would suggest you consider obtaining an email account that isn’t tied to an ISP, so that, if you have to change ISPs again, it won’t disrupt your email. Among such email-only services are Yahoo Mail, Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail, and Google’s Gmail.

Your column last week concerned a navigation device called Dash Express that transmits the speed and location of your car to the company for traffic information purposes. But couldn’t this capability also be misused by the company to track a driver’s whereabouts, or even help issue speeding tickets?

Theoretically, yes. But the company, Dash Navigation, says it retains no personally identifiable information on its servers, and merely collects traffic data from participating cars anonymously. A company spokeswoman says: “If the FBI came in and asked us to find someone, we would have no way of locating an individual car.”

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

We plan to buy a new computer running the XP version of Windows, not Vista. We are afraid to take the step to the Mac since we are in our 70s, and are just average on the computer. We rely on our children for help when we get into a jam, and they have no experience with a Mac. Would you recommend we venture into Mac land, fear and all?

No. While I believe Apple’s (AAPL) hardware is very good, and the Mac operating system is better than either version of Windows (MSFT), I also believe that average users whose operating system works well for them, and who can buy new hardware that runs the same system, shouldn’t feel pressure to change. That’s especially true when they have a ready source of support.

However, that course of action will become more difficult this summer, when Microsoft plans to stop licensing Windows XP to computer makers for preloading on new machines. That will make Vista the only version of Windows available to new computer buyers. Buying a new Vista PC does require users to learn new techniques and to cope with hardware and software incompatibilities.

I heard that you could still use your AOL email address without paying for the other AOL services, which are no longer used in our household. I am wondering if this is true.

Yes. AOL (TWX) has made its email free. The email service is also now available from a Web site, and no longer requires special AOL software.

I have purchased a new laptop. How do I transfer the songs from the iTunes library on the old laptop into the iTunes library on my new laptop? None of these songs are copy-protected. I created them from my own CDs.

If your setup is typical, I would recommend copying the entire iTunes folder that is found under My Music or Music on a PC, or under Music on a Mac. This folder should contain both a subfolder called “iTunes Music” (which contains the actual song files iTunes manages) and one or more files containing the words “iTunes” and “Library,” which tell the program about your playlists and other details. If your setup is atypical, you may have to copy music files from other folders and have the copy of iTunes on your new machine re-import them.

Another approach is to use an iPod, if it has all your music and playlists on it. There are small utility programs available on the Web that will copy the contents of an iPod, including playlists, into a fresh version of iTunes on another computer. One that I have used successfully is called Music Rescue and is at www.kennettnet.co.uk. It comes in both Windows and Mac versions. But there are others.

Reminder: if you are discarding or giving away the old computer, be sure to deauthorize it from your iTunes Store account before doing so. Just go to the “Store” menu in iTunes and click on “Deauthorize computer…”.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

I am looking for information about how I can export my Favorites and Address Book from my AOL account to another browser and any other email service.

There may be multiple methods for doing this, but one simple approach is to use a service called TrueSwitch, which is specifically designed for this purpose. It can be found at www.trueswitch.com.

Is there an application that will uninstall all the “craplets” and their preferences from a Windows machine?

Yes. It’s called “PC Decrapifier,” and can be downloaded at pcdecrapifier.com. It is designed to remove from a new Windows PC all of the unneeded trial programs, add-on programs and advertising come-ons that PC makers typically cram onto the computer that are collectively known as “craplets.” These items can slow down a new machine and occupy disk space better used for programs and files you actually want.

I’ve recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium as the operating system. Is there a way to remove the Vista operating system and use Windows XP?

Yes, such an operating system “downgrade” is possible, but it isn’t for the faint-hearted or the average, nontechnical user. There are many obstacles, but let me list just the major ones. For one thing, the process involves wiping out everything on your hard disk. That means you will need to carefully copy all of your personal data files to a backup disk so you can restore them after the downgrade. In fact, you should clone your entire hard disk if possible so you can revert to Vista if the downgrade fails. You will also need a legal copy of Windows XP, or — better yet — a legal Windows XP recovery disk from your PC’s maker that is customized for your machine’s hardware and factory-installed software.

If you can’t find an XP recovery disk tailored for your particular PC, you will need to assemble a collection of “drivers” — the software programs that make your computer’s hardware features work — that are compatible with Windows XP. This can be difficult, or even impossible, as a Vista machine may contain new hardware components for which XP drivers are hard to find or may not even exist.

If you aren’t a techie, and you desperately want to downgrade to XP, I strongly suggest hiring an expert to take on the task. But the best solution for XP fans is to buy a machine with XP preinstalled in the first place.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.