I am shopping for a new laptop, and noticed that some of the models in which I am interested come with Windows Vista Business edition instead of Home Premium, which I understand is the main consumer version. What would I be missing if I went with the Business version instead?

The main thing Vista Business lacks that Home Premium includes is a series of multimedia features. These include Media Center, which allows you to play songs and videos, and view photos, from across a room. In addition, Home Premium offers Windows Movie Maker software for creating movies, DVD maker, and several games the Business version lacks.

On the other hand, the Business edition has some things Home Premium doesn’t, including built-in programs for doing a complete PC backup, for faxing and scanning, and for remotely running programs on another computer. For the most part, however, Vista Business looks and works like Home Premium.

I just bought a new laptop, and want to transfer to it the Firefox bookmarks I have on my old desktop. How can I do that?

There are a number of possible methods, but here’s a simple, straightforward approach.

First, you export the bookmarks from Firefox on your old desktop PC, which creates a single file containing the bookmarks. Then, you copy that file, which Firefox names by default “bookmarks.html,” to a CD or portable USB drive or some other medium you can use to transfer files between computers. Then, you copy the file to the new laptop. Finally, you import the file into the fresh copy of Firefox on the new laptop.

To carry out this process, you use Firefox’s import and export function for bookmarks. On the first computer, from the Firefox Bookmarks menu, choose “Organize bookmarks.” Then, once the bookmark window opens, go to the File menu and choose “Export.” That will create the bookmarks file. After the file is on the second computer, launch Firefox and repeat the process, only this time choose “Import,” and then click on “From File,” and select the file you brought over.

I have Word 2003 and have just started to receive Word 2007 documents, which I cannot open. What is the best solution?

Word 2007 has a new default file format, called DOCX, that is incompatible with older versions, which rely on the long-standing DOC format. The new version can be set to always save files in the old format, but not everyone knows that or chooses to do so.

However, folks such as you with the 2003 version of Word can install a free “Compatibility Pack” from Microsoft that will allow your copy of Word to read the new format. It can be obtained from the company’s Download Center, at www.microsoft.com/downloads. You’ll find it listed there under “Popular Downloads.”

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

In a recent column, you said Microsoft had imposed a legal prohibition on running the Home versions of Windows Vista on a Macintosh using virtualization programs like Parallels and Fusion. Does the same prohibition apply if you are installing Vista using Apple’s Boot Camp software?

No, because Boot Camp doesn’t create a virtual Windows computer — it actually carves out part of an Intel-based Macintosh’s hard disk and turns it into a full-blown physical Windows computer. To Windows, a Mac configured this way looks just like any Dell or Hewlett-Packard or other standard Windows computer. Boot Camp is free, but, such as Parallels and Fusion, it requires you to purchase a full, boxed copy of Windows to install.

The upside of the Boot Camp approach is that, when you are running Windows on the Mac, all of the computer’s hardware is devoted to Windows, because the Mac’s own operating system, OS X, isn’t running at all and a portion of the hard disk is reserved for the exclusive use of Windows. The downside is that you cannot run the two operating systems simultaneously, as you can with virtual solutions such as Parallels and Fusion. To switch between using Windows programs and Mac programs, you must restart the machine while holding down the Option key and then choose whether you want it to boot into Windows or Mac OS X. Both Parallels and Fusion can, however, use a Boot Camp Windows installation to create a virtual version of Windows that can be used simultaneously with the Mac OS.

If you install Boot Camp on a well-equipped Mac model, it can become a blazing fast Vista computer. A few days ago I bought a top-of-the-line model of Apple’s new iMac line, and installed Boot Camp and Vista. I then tested the machine using Vista’s built-in Windows Experience Index, a rating system that goes from 1 to 5.9, with scores above 3.0 generally required for full, quick performance. My iMac scored a 5.0, the best score of any consumer Vista machine I have tested. Obviously, a tricked-out high end Dell or HP box might do as well or better, and a lesser Mac might do worse. But the score was very impressive for a computer that wasn’t designed with Vista in mind.

We have a Sony PC and a 17-inch LCD monitor. Currently, we have a separate old-fashioned TV in the room, with a cable box connected to it. Is there any way to buy a larger LCD monitor and be able to watch TV via the cable box and also use the same screen when we use the computer?

A good approach would be to buy an LCD television that has both the usual connectors for your cable box and a connector, or input, for a personal computer. There are many such models, in various sizes. If you bought such a TV, you would switch between the PC and the cable box by changing inputs on your remote. Just make sure the PC input is compatible with your computer, or that an adapter is available to make it compatible. Many PCs and PC-friendly TVs use the older, common VGA connector, which is an analog input, but others use various newer digital connectors. You can also connect some computers to LCD TVs using standard connectors that aren’t specifically labeled as being for PCs. This is especially true for some Windows Media Center PCs that are designed to work with TVs.

Have you rated any of the Web businesses that assemble personal photos into a book format?

Yes. My colleague Katherine Boehret and I reviewed three contenders in that category in December, and in our judgment, at that time, MyPublisher (www.mypublisher.com) was the best of that group. You can read the column at http://solution.allthingsd.com/20061206. However, the books from Apple, Shutterfly and Blurb are also favorites of many readers.

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.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.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. This week my mailbox contained questions about Windows Media Center, the Aero interface in Vista and right-clicking on Apple laptops.

I want to buy a Windows Media Center PC, but before I go out and buy one this fall, do you know if the new Windows Vista will impact the Media Center PCs or if Microsoft is going to release a Windows XP Media 2007 edition?

Microsoft is killing the Media Center Edition of Windows that allows current Media Center PCs to be controlled by remote from across a room for playback of music, photos, TV and videos. So, there won’t be a 2007 edition. However, the functionality of Media Center will continue, and will even be improved. It will simply be folded into some editions of Vista, which is the new version of Windows that is slated for release in January.

People who want the latest and greatest Media Center functions in Windows should wait until then and buy a new PC with Vista’s Home Premium edition preinstalled, or they should upgrade their current PC to Vista Home Premium edition, if their hardware is good enough.

I am beginning to research the new Windows Vista operating system and I keep running into the term “Aero” and “Aero-capable.” What does this mean? Is it important?

Yes, it’s very important. Aero is the name for the new and flashy graphical user interface in Vista, the software component that will enable its new, much richer look and feel, and its many visual features. But Aero will require robust computer hardware to run. Most computers currently in use in homes won’t have the horsepower for Aero. Even some bargain-basement new models won’t be up to the task. So, you are beginning to see computers described as “Aero-capable,” which means their manufacturers are claiming they can run the full Vista experience, including Aero.

Confusingly, some computers that can’t run Aero can still run Vista, and may be described as “Vista-capable” or Vista compatible. These machines will run Vista in a mode that looks much more like Windows XP. They will benefit from Vista features such as built-in fast searching and enhanced security, but won’t be able to use the new Aero interface and graphics capability.

The Home Premium edition of Vista will have Aero. A less expensive Home Basic version won’t.

I tried the right-clicking shortcut you suggested last week for Apple laptops, but I can’t get it to work. Is there more to this trick?

The technique I described last week for simulating a right mouse click on a new Macintosh laptop with a single touch pad button does work; you just place two fingers on the touch pad (which Apple calls the “trackpad”), and click the button. But I should have mentioned that it isn’t turned on by default. You have to manually enable this feature, just once.

To do this, go into System Preferences, click on the “Keyboard & Mouse” icon, then click on the “Trackpad” tab. Once there, select “Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click.” Then just close the window or quit System Preferences.

One more thing: if you have opted to use the “clicking” feature, which allows you to tap on the pad itself rather than clicking the button below it, then the simulated right-click feature works differently: you just tap the pad with two fingers. There’s no need to also click the button.

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Because of the volume of email I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by email, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.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. This week my mailbox contained questions about Microsoft’s Media Center software, Apple laptops for college freshmen and computer monitors.

If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg’s Mailbox.

I am considering purchasing a Dell Windows Media Center PC. Its primary use would be for entertainment, but I would also likely use it for some business use. Will a PC with Media Center run Office [and other] software like a regular XP machine?

Yes. Microsoft’s Media Center software is a special version of Windows XP. It has a remote-controllable interface that can be used for playing media from across a room. But this interface need not be used all the time. When it isn’t in use, Media Center reverts to Windows XP, Professional edition. So, Media Center computers can be used like any other XP Pro machines. They can run all Windows programs, including Microsoft Office.

By the way, this is the last year Microsoft will be selling the Media Center Edition of Windows, but the functions of Media Center aren’t being discontinued. They are being folded into some of the versions of the new Windows Vista operating system, which will be available in January.

My grandson wants an Apple laptop for college. Does it make sense to go all the way with the new MacBook Pro, or would the 12-inch PowerBook G4 likely be good enough?

The MacBook Pro is a high-end laptop that costs $2,000 and up. It’s probably overkill for a college freshman, unless he or she will be taking a heavy dose of engineering or graphics classes. For most freshmen, the 12-inch PowerBook ($1,499), or even the iBook G4 ($999) would be a fine choice. Be prepared to spend a little extra for either model, as you’ll need to buy a copy of the Mac version of Microsoft Office, which costs $150 for students.

Unfortunately, I am among the small percentage of the population that can actually perceive light fluctuations at 60 hertz — or cycles per second — the rate at which many monitors redraw their screens. This means a standard computer monitor looks like a strobe light to me, and gives me a whopping headache, if I spend a couple of hours in front of one. Is there a solution?

Yes. Most monitors offer settings that allow them to operate at higher rates — say 75 Hz — which cycle faster and thus offer less visible flickering. This setting is called the “refresh rate.” It is adjustable from both Windows and Macintosh computers. You may be able to end your problem just by changing this setting to a higher refresh rate. It’s a good idea to use the highest refresh rate that your monitor can handle.

In Windows, you can find this setting in the Display control panel, which is in the Appearance and Themes group. In the Display control panel, click on the Settings tab. Then click on Advanced, and then Monitor, to find the available refresh rates.

On a Mac, just launch System Preferences, select Displays, and Click on the Display button to see the Refresh Rate choices.

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. This week my mailbox contained questions about installing Windows Media Center, opening files in Safari and transferring 8mm films to DVDs.

If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg’s Mailbox.

I want to upgrade my laptop to Windows Media Center. I have an external TV tuner and I acquired the software through a friend who got it free with his computer, but would rather run regular XP. If I just install Windows Media Center and plug in the tuner, everything should work OK?

I’ve never tried this, but I doubt it will work. Media Center isn’t a software program, but a flavor of the Windows operating system itself, so you’d be upgrading or replacing your current version of Windows, which could alter many things on your machine. It might not work at all, because Microsoft only sells Media Center with new PCs.

Even if installation did somehow work, however, you’d probably get trapped in Microsoft’s “activation” process. In order to run any new copy of Windows, it must be “activated” by Microsoft, and I suspect the copy your friend gave you would be recognized as one that came with a particular new PC and activation would be denied on grounds of piracy, which would eventually cause your computer to stop functioning.

I just switched from a PC to an iMac. On Windows, I used Firefox as my Web browser, and I could right-click on any link or bookmark, and it would open in a new tab. In the iMac’s Web browser, Safari, I cannot find the same function. Have I overlooked something?

Safari offers similar functionality, including the right-clicking — if you have a two-button mouse. But it only works with links, and with individual bookmarks in the Bookmarks Bar. Bookmarks inside folders, or in the main Bookmarks menu, can’t be opened in a new tab by right-clicking on them. Also, in Safari, you have to first go into preferences and make sure tabbed browsing is turned on.

Bear in mind that you can also use Firefox on your Mac. The Mac and Windows versions are nearly identical. Oddly, on the question you raise, the Mac version of Firefox behaves like Safari, not like Firefox on Windows.

I have lots of old regular 8mm films in the closet, and I’d love to have all of these reels transferred to DVD. What’s the best method and how expensive would it be to transfer perhaps 10 hours of this film to DVD?

I suggest using a service to do this. The best one I know of is called YesVideo (www.yesvideo.com). It charges $49.99 for the first 250 feet, and 10 cents per foot thereafter. But you can’t send the film directly to YesVideo. You have to go to a retail store that partners with the company, such as a Best Buy or Ritz Camera shop. Details, including a store locator, are on the company’s Web site.

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. This week my mailbox contained questions about switching to DSL from dial-up, browser hijacking and whether to wait for Windows Vista.

If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg’s Mailbox.

We are satisfied users of dial-up Internet access. Our only complaint is the very slow transfer rate of four kilobits per second when we download updates for our security software. Would a 768 kbps DSL line really download these files almost 200 times faster than dial-up? It costs only slightly more than we pay for dial-up.

Most Internet services don’t actually function at the advertised speed, due to network congestion and other factors. So, DSL isn’t going to operate at 768 kbps. But it will probably run at 600 kbps or more, which is still vastly faster than dial-up. And, since file transfers tend to be the speediest online activity on DSL or cable modem services, you should see a dramatic reduction in the time it takes to update your security software. With DSL now starting at around $15 a month, the same or less than dial-up typically costs, I can’t see any reason why anyone who uses the Internet regularly should stick with dial-up access.

When I click on my browser in Windows XP, I get a page saying spyware is detected, and my computer is under the control of a remote computer. This screen tells me that I can solve this issue by downloading various security programs I’ve never heard of. I’ve tried to get rid of this page by deleting temporary files, cookies, files, programs — anything else I can think of — but it keeps appearing. Neither Norton anti-virus nor Spybot gets rid of it.

Sounds like you have a nasty case of browser hijacking, a type of spyware that seizes control of a browser to try and peddle dubious products that may themselves install more spyware, even though they are posing as security software. The people who invade computers and browsers in this manner deserve to be locked up.

You can’t get rid of pernicious spyware like this by madly deleting files or changing browser settings. Only a strong anti-spyware program can kill it and prevent it from reappearing. But sometimes you have to try multiple anti-spyware programs to get the job done. You’ve already tried one good one, Spybot, which failed. I suggest you go to Webroot.com and download my favorite anti-spyware program, Spy Sweeper. If that doesn’t work, try Ad-Aware or Counterspy.

I am considering buying a PC with the Windows Media Center operating system. But I am wondering if Media Center will be updated when the new Windows Vista comes out. Should I buy now or wait?

The Media Center flavor of Windows is scheduled to be retired in the fall of 2006, when the new Windows Vista is set to be released. Instead, the key functions of Media Center — including the across-the-room remote control of music, TV, photos and videos — will be folded into some versions of Vista.

If you buy now, and your new machine is hefty enough to run Vista, you should be able to upgrade to the appropriate version of Vista and retain all your Media Center functionality, with some improvements. But you’ll have to pay for the new software.

If you wait 10 months or so, you can buy a new PC pre-loaded with a version of Vista that includes these functions. But you’ll have lost nearly a year of use of the very good Media Center functionality available today. My advice is: If you really need a new PC now, and really want the Media Center functionality now, buy now, and plan to upgrade to Vista later. But, just be sure you get hardware capable of running Vista. For my column on Vista-capable hardware, see: ptech.wsj.com/guide-pc.html.

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Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.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. This week my mailbox contained questions about rotating wallpaper and using the Xbox 360 to play music without a Media Center PC.

If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg’s Mailbox.

Is there a way to get my wallpaper or desktop picture to rotate among a group of images, with the picture changing at preset intervals?

Yes. If you have a Windows PC, you can install one of many third-party utility programs that will allow you to do this. I can’t recommend one because I haven’t tested any. But if you enter “wallpaper changer” into a search engine you should come up with multiple choices. For instance, I found Wallpaper Changer, Power Wallpaper Changer, Wallpaper Master and Wallpaper Sequencer, among others.

If you have a Macintosh running the current OS X operating system, this rotating desktop feature is built in, like a lot of things that require extra software in Windows. Just go to System Preferences, select “Desktop & Screen Saver,” and then click on “Desktop.” First choose the folder of pictures through which you want to rotate. Then, check off the option called “Change picture.” Finally, choose the interval you want — there are lots of choices, ranging from every five seconds to every day — or opt to change desktop images only each time you log in or the computer awakes from sleep.

I am a stock market day-trader, and am thinking about getting the new Verizon Fios high-speed Internet service you reviewed awhile back. Has the service been reliable for you?

At my home, the Fios service has been totally reliable since I installed it in July. It hasn’t been down for a moment. And I haven’t received any reports of unreliability from others using the service. But, remember, Fios is very young and has relatively few people using it. As more sign up, managing the network may pose greater challenges for Verizon.

In your recent review of the Xbox 360, you explained how it can work as an extender to a Media Center PC so that you can view photos and videos, and play music, using files from the PC, on a TV in another room. Is there any way to do this with a plain old Windows PC?

Apparently there is but it’s more limited. Several readers informed me of a Microsoft software utility called Windows Media Connect, that supposedly works on regular Windows XP computers (without the Media Center features) to remotely play files using an Xbox 360. However, according to the Xbox Web site, it only can transmit photos and music via an Xbox 360, not videos. I haven’t tested it, but you can find information at: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/howto/media/xbox360/howto-media-pc.htm. Scroll down to the section labeled “Windows Media Connect.”

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Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com