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 waiting for the new Mac OS, using an iPod with an old version of Windows and getting broadband in rural areas.

I am planning to replace my aging Dell desktop with one of Apple’s iMac machines. Now that Apple has announced that the new OS X Leopard will be released next spring, is it advisable to wait for Leopard’s release to buy a new iMac? Or will the current iMac be able to run Leopard when it is released?

If history is any guide, an iMac you purchase now, or in the next few months, should easily be able to handle Leopard, which is the sixth version of Apple’s Mac OS X to be released since 2001. Since Apple upgrades its operating system far more often than Microsoft does, the upgrades tend to require less of a jump in hardware capability. (Microsoft’s forthcoming new version of Windows called Vista, due in January 2007, is the first major overhaul of Windows since 2001.)

However, Apple hasn’t promised that every new feature of Leopard will run on any iMac sold now, and the company has coldly cut off users of older models in the past. So, if you can wait, do so. It’s always better to buy new machines with a new OS preinstalled, even though Apple’s OS upgrade process has generally been much quicker and more reliable than Microsoft’s. Another benefit: Apple typically charges existing users $129 for an upgraded OS, even if their machines are only, say, six months old. But new Macs next spring will include Leopard free of charge.

Even if you can’t wait until spring (you said your Dell was “aging”), consider waiting a few months to see if Apple brings out a new iMac with Intel’s latest processor, the Core 2 Duo, which is faster and more efficient than the Core Duo in current iMacs. I have no information that this will happen, but you should know by November or so.

I’ve got a new iPod I want to use with my Dell Dimension 4100 running Windows Me, but the iTunes software will apparently run only on XP or 2000. What’s my best bet for software to load files onto my iPod?

Try a product called XPlay 2, by Mediafour. It is specifically designed to work with older versions of Windows, including Windows Me. It costs $30 and can be downloaded at mediafour.com/products/xplay/. There is a free trial, but it is limited.

We live on a dirt road in rural Virginia with no cable and can’t get DSL. How can we get broadband? We would prefer not to do a satellite connection because you still need a phone modem to send material. Is there some kind of fast wireless connection we could get from our PC to our ISP? I see laptops with wireless antennas sticking out of them around here and they must transmit to somewhere.

Satellite Internet access has improved, and no longer requires a dial-up modem for the return path — in fact no use of the phone line is needed at all. Of course, as with any satellite service, your house must have a clear line of sight to the area of the sky where the particular satellite you use is situated. For more information, see www.hughesnet.com.

Another option, if you have good cellphone coverage, is a broadband cell-phone modem. It uses the cellphone network to connect you to the Internet at speeds roughly comparable with a slow home DSL line — which is still much, much faster than your current dial-up connection. This is probably what all those laptops with antennas are using.

These cellphone modems, using a technology called EVDO, are offered by Verizon and Sprint, and Cingular is slowly building a similar wireless broadband capability. For more information, see the Web sites of the phone carriers.

In some parts of the country, but not Virginia, a company called Clearwire is offering wireless broadband to rural homes.

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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 Apple’s new software, Boot Camp, that allows users to run Windows on a Mac.

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.

Now that Apple has made it easy to run Windows on a Mac, does this mean the opposite is possible? Can I also run the Macintosh operating system on a Dell or H-P or any other Windows machine? If not now, when?

No. Apple is happy to allow Windows on Macs because the company believes adding the Windows capability will sell more Macs. But it is opposed to allowing its OS X Tiger operating system to run on other companies’ computers, because it believes this will reduce Mac sales. Unlike Microsoft, Apple is in the computer business, not the business of selling the operating system by itself. It has rejected requests from other PC makers to license OS X, and has designed the Intel version of OS X to run only on Apple hardware.

Some hackers have claimed they got OS X running on Windows PCs, but not in any way that provides complete functionality or which is replicable by average, nontechie users.

If anyone does come up with an easy method, Apple is likely to alter OS X to defeat it. Of course, the company has changed course before, so anything is possible. But, for now, OS X works only on Apple hardware.

I know that with Apple’s Boot Camp, the Mac and Windows operating systems occupy their own distinct “partitions” on the machine’s hard disk. But can they view and use each other’s data files?

A: Yes, but it takes careful setup plus add-on software. Here’s how to do it.

When you run Boot Camp, you should make sure that the Windows partition you create on your hard disk is under 32 gigabytes. Then, when you install Windows, you should choose to format the Windows partition as “FAT32,” not “NTFS.” The FAT32 choice will allow your Mac to read and write to the Windows portion of the hard disk.

If you pick NTFS, the Mac will be able to read Windows files, but not write them. Note: You can’t choose FAT32 if the Windows segment of your hard disk exceeds 32 gigabytes.

After that, when you start up in Mac OS X, you’ll see the Windows drive and be able to access it from the Mac side. But, when you boot up in Windows, you won’t see, and can’t access, the Mac drive.

After the whole system is running fine, you should install a product called MacDrive on the Windows side. MacDrive, which costs $50 from a company called Mediafour, allows Windows PCs to access Mac disks.

The company says that MacDrive works on Boot Camp-equipped Macs. For more information, see: www.mediafour.com/bootcamp.

Will Boot Camp work on my iMac G5, or my PowerBook G4?

No, it works only on the very latest crop of Mac models, which began appearing this year, including the newest iMac and Mac Mini and the new MacBook Pro.

They are powered by Intel processors. If your Mac was bought before January 2006, or if its name includes the words G4, G5, iBook or PowerBook, it won’t work with Boot Camp.

Can I upgrade my older Mac to the Intel chips so I can run Windows on it?

No. Apple hasn’t made this kind of upgrade available. And, even if another company did, it would likely involve replacing most of the computer’s guts, not just one chip, and would likely cost almost as much as buying a new computer.

After I run Boot Camp, can I install my copy of Windows 2000? Can I use a copy of Windows I got with my Dell, or that I got from work?

No. Boot Camp works only with fresh copies of Windows XP, purchased at retail, that include the “SP2″ update from Microsoft in the box. It won’t work with upgrade versions of XP, or with copies that came with another PC, or that you got from friends or the office. And it won’t work with Windows 2000, or any other pre-XP version of Windows. You also can’t use Windows XP and then add the SP2 update later.