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

Vista is much prettier than previous versions of Windows. Its icons look better, windows have translucent borders, and items in the taskbar and in folders can display little previews of what they contain. Security is supposedly vastly better; there are some new free, included programs; and fast, universal search is now built in. There are hundreds of other, smaller, improvements and additions throughout the system, including parental controls and even a slicker version of Solitaire.

After months of testing Vista on multiple computers, new and old, I believe it is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. However, while navigation has been improved, Vista isn’t a breakthrough in ease of use. Overall, it works pretty much the same way as Windows XP. Windows hasn’t been given nearly as radical an overhaul as Microsoft just applied to its other big product, Office.

Vista’s Flip 3D feature lets you scroll through images of currently running programs. The sidebar (right) contains miniapplications. The Windows Photo Gallery (left) is for organizing and editing photos.

Nearly all of the major, visible new features in Vista are already available in Apple‘s operating system, called Mac OS X, which came out in 2001 and received its last major upgrade in 2005. And Apple is about to leap ahead again with a new version of OS X, called Leopard, due this spring.

There are some big downsides to this new version of Windows. To get the full benefits of Vista, especially the new look and user interface, which is called Aero, you will need a hefty new computer, or a hefty one that you purchased fairly recently. The vast majority of existing Windows PCs won’t be able to use all of Vista’s features without major hardware upgrades. They will be able to run only a stripped-down version, and even then may run very slowly.

In fact, in my tests, some elements of Vista could be maddeningly slow even on new, well-configured computers.

Also, despite Vista’s claimed security improvements, you will still have to run, and keep updating, security programs, which can be annoying and burdensome. Microsoft has thrown in one such program free, but you will have to buy at least one more. That means that, while Vista has eased some of the burden on users imposed by the Windows security crisis, it will still force you to spend more time managing the computer than I believe people should have to devote.

Here’s a quick guide to the highlights of the new operating system.

Versions and Upgrading

Vista comes in six versions, two of which are primarily aimed at consumers. One, called Home Premium, is the one most consumers will want. It contains the full Aero interface, and it includes the functionality of Windows Media Center and Windows Tablet edition, which have been discontinued as separate products. Home Premium costs $239, or $159 if you are upgrading from an earlier version of Windows. It will come preloaded on most midrange and some high-end consumer PCs.

The other main consumer edition of Vista is the stripped-down version, called Home Basic. It includes the improved security and search but leaves out the new Aero interface and the Media Center and Tablet functions. It will be preloaded on low-price PCs. Home Basic will cost $199, or $100 for upgraders.

A third version, called Ultimate, will wrap up everything in Home Premium with some additional features from the business versions of Vista. This is for power users, and it is likely to be preloaded on high-end PCs. But some regular users may need Vista Ultimate if their companies have particular network configurations that make it impossible to connect to the company network from home with Home Basic or Home Premium. Vista Ultimate will cost $399, or $259 as an upgrade.

Even if you buy the Home Premium or Ultimate editions, Vista will revert to the Basic features if it detects that your machine is too wimpy to run the new user interface.

For most users who want Vista, I strongly recommend buying a new PC with the new operating system preloaded. I wouldn’t even consider trying to upgrade a computer older than 18 months, and even some of them may be unsuitable candidates. Microsoft offers a free, downloadable Upgrade Advisor program that can tell you how ready your XP machine is. It’s available at: microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor.

If you bought a PC in the past few months, and it had a “Vista Capable” sticker on it, it should be able to run at least Home Basic. If it was labeled “Premium Ready,” it should be able to handle Premium and probably Ultimate.

Microsoft says that Home Basic can run on a PC with half a gigabyte of memory and that Premium and Ultimate will work on a PC with one gigabyte of memory. I strongly advise doubling those numbers. To get all the features of Vista, you should have two gigabytes of memory, far more than most people own.

Even more important is your graphics card, a component most people know little about. Home Basic can run on almost any graphics system. But Premium and Ultimate will need a powerful, modern graphics system to run well.

Performance

I tested Vista on three computers. On a new, top-of-the-line Hewlett-Packard laptop, with Vista preinstalled, it worked smoothly and quickly. It was a pleasure.

On a three-year-old H-P desktop, a Vista upgrade installed itself fine. But even though this computer had a full gigabyte of memory and what was once a high-end graphics card, Vista Ultimate reverted to the Basic user interface. And even then, it ran so slowly and unsteadily as to make the PC essentially unusable.

The third machine was a new, small Dell XPS M1210 laptop. In general, Vista ran smoothly and well on this Dell, but some operations were annoyingly slow, including creating a new message in the built-in Windows Mail program. This surprised me, because the Dell had two gigabytes of memory and a fast processor.

Security

Microsoft says Vista is much more secure than any other operating system. But this is hard to prove, especially at the beginning of its life, when few hackers and malefactors have access to it. One visible security feature asks for your permission before you do potentially dangerous tasks, like installing new software. This is a good thing, and it’s been on the Macintosh for years. But unlike the Mac version, the Vista version of this permission feature doesn’t necessarily require you to type in a password, so a stranger or a child using your PC could grant permission for something you yourself might not allow.

Vista also has built-in parental controls so you can restrict what a child can do on the computer. This is also already on the Macintosh, though the Vista controls are more elaborate.

Microsoft includes a free antispyware program in Vista, called Windows Defender. But PC Magazine regards it as inferior to paid programs like Spy Sweeper and Spy Doctor. So you may want to buy one of these. You should also buy an antivirus program, which isn’t included.

User Interface

The new Aero interface is lovely, and it makes using a PC more pleasant and efficient. It apes some elements on the Macintosh but retains a distinct look and feel. Icons of folders look three dimensional, and they pop. Most file icons are thumbnails that show a tiny preview of the underlying document.

Like the rest of Vista, the Start Menu has a prettier, more refined look.

The old hourglass icon that appeared during delays has been replaced by a gleaming, spinning blue circle. The cutesy names for standard folders, like “My Pictures,” have been changed to simpler ones, like “Pictures.”

As on the Mac, you can now drag favorite folders into a list at the left of open windows, so it’s easy to get to them.

A new feature called Flip 3D shows a 3D view of all the programs you’re running and lets you scroll through them. It’s like the Mac’s excellent Exposé feature, though not quite as handy.

Another new feature, called the Sidebar, is a vertical strip at the side of the screen that can contain tiny programs, called Gadgets, displaying things like favorite photos, news headlines, stock prices and the weather. Once again, this is awfully similar to a Macintosh feature called Dashboard, which displays tiny programs called Widgets.

Some familiar Windows features have new names. The old Display control panel, where you chose screen savers and desktop pictures, is now called Personalization. The Add or Remove Programs control panel is now called Programs and Features.

Search

Like the Mac, Windows now has rapid, universal, built-in search, a very welcome thing. The main search box is contained at the bottom of the Start menu, and it works well. Other search boxes appear in every open window.

You can also save searches as virtual folders, which will keep collecting files that meet your search criteria. This is another feature introduced earlier by Apple.

Built-In Programs

The Outlook Express email program has been given a face-lift and renamed Windows Mail. But it’s pretty much the same, except for a new junk-mail filter. The Windows Address Book has been renamed Windows Contacts and, oddly, turned into a sort of file folder.

The latest version of the Internet Explorer Web browser, with tabbed browsing, is included, though it’s also available for Windows XP.

As on the Mac, Windows now has a nice, centralized Calendar program. And there’s a new photo-organizing program, Windows Photo Gallery, but it’s inferior to Apple’s iPhoto because it doesn’t allow you to create photo books, or add music to slide shows. There’s also a pretty rudimentary DVD-burning program.

The familiar WordPad program can no longer open Microsoft Word files (ironically, Apple’s free built-in word processor does).

Gradually, all Windows computers will be Vista computers, and that’s a good thing, if only for security reasons. But you may want to keep your older Windows XP box around awhile longer, until you can afford new hardware that can handle Vista.

• Email me 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.

* * *

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

Vista is the biggest revision to Windows in over a decade. It will be a major change, not only for consumer and corporate Windows users, but for computer makers, software creators and many others downstream.

But what’s in Vista? How will it be sold? And what kind of computer will be needed to run it? Here’s a rough guide to the new Leviathan of the digital seas.

WHY VISTA?

Even after a major overhaul a couple of years back, Windows XP is a security nightmare. With Vista, Microsoft claims to have built in better security from the start, reducing — though not eliminating — the need to buy, learn and maintain add-on security software. The company says better security is Vista’s biggest advantage.

For instance, with the new program you’ll have to type in your administrator ID and password before installing software, to stop malicious software from installing itself silently. And Vista will have built-in parental controls.

Vista’s next big feature is built-in desktop search. Think of this as the Google Desktop search on steroids. From any screen, you’ll be able to start typing a search term and Vista will comb your hard disk for every document, photo, email, song and video that meets that criterion. It should be much faster and better than add-on search programs.

In addition, you’ll be able to save searches in “virtual folders,” which will automatically continue to collect files that meet your search specifications. So if you save a search for “Fountains of Wayne” as a virtual folder and check it a month later, it will contain every e-mail that mentioned the pop band as well as any photos you took at their concert and new songs by the band that you downloaded — even though none of these things existed when you first did the search.

The last major new feature is a rich new user interface. Called Aero, it includes a powerful new graphics system that enables such new extras as transparent windows, animation of certain screen elements (similar to the “funnel” effect Mac users are familiar with when closing a file) and the ability to see reduced, live views of all your running programs at once.

There are lots of smaller changes as well. For instance, there’s a dashboard with small programs (calendar, weather updates and stock tickers, among others) that run quickly, called Gadgets. There’s also new music and video player software; a new built-in Web browser with tabbed browsing; a new, free email program with junk-mail filtering; and a new photo-organizing program.

Many of these features are already available on the Apple Macintosh — some have been for years — but they will seem fresh to most Windows users.

HOW WILL YOU BUY IT?

Like past versions of Windows, Vista will be sold in two ways: The vast majority of people will get it by buying a new PC with Vista preloaded at the factory. That way, they’ll know the hardware and software are compatible. And a small percentage of people, either brave souls or those with PCs too new to replace, will buy Vista in a box and upgrade their computers manually.

Either way, Vista won’t be simple to purchase. That’s because it will come in at least five different flavors, compared with two versions when Windows XP launched in 2001. There will be two consumer versions of Vista, two business versions and one version that includes everything, called “Ultimate.” Also, two current special editions of Windows, the Tablet and Media Center versions, will be folded into some, but not all, of the five Vista editions.

For consumers, the biggest issue will be choosing between the Home Basic and Home Premium versions of Vista, either on new machines or in boxes. Home Premium will include the new Aero user interface along with all the security, search and other features described above. It will also have updated versions of the features currently included in the Media Center and Tablet editions of Windows XP. But Home Premium won’t run on most Windows PCs currently in the hands of consumers, and it also won’t run on new, low-end PCs. That’s because it requires hefty hardware to work right.

Most current PCs, and all the bargain-priced new ones preloaded with Vista next January, will be able to run only Home Basic, which is a stripped-down version of Vista. Microsoft insists that Home Basic will have the same security system and search features as Premium, but it won’t include the new Aero user interface and will probably lack some other features. In essence Home Basic will look and feel like a modestly improved version of Windows XP, even though Microsoft says there’ll be major improvements under the covers.

Power users, and those who want every option just in case, may go for the Ultimate version of Vista. It not only will roll up everything in the consumer and business versions, it may also have some added bells and whistles. Microsoft hasn’t announced prices yet.

WHAT HARDWARE WILL YOU NEED?

The stripped-down version of Vista, Home Basic, will run on fairly routine PCs, albeit ones with plenty of memory.

The Premium and Ultimate versions will likely require at least a midrange model or a high-end configuration.

Microsoft hasn’t officially released the recommended hardware specs. But I expect the company to recommend 512 megabytes of memory for Home Basic and a gigabyte of memory for Premium. Based on past experience, I advise doubling those amounts, to a gigabyte of memory for Basic and 2 gigabytes for Premium.

Another crucial hardware factor will be the computer’s video system. Basic Vista can run on any graphics hardware that creates a screen resolution of at least 800×600. That covers most bargain computers with graphics chips that are integrated with the machine’s motherboard and which share main memory. But Premium and Ultimate will run best on machines with a full-blown graphics card and dedicated video memory of at least 128 megabytes.

You will be able to run Home Basic on the slowest processors available, but for the better versions of Vista, you’ll need a processor running at a speed of at least 1 gigahertz. I would opt for as fast a processor as you can afford and for one with two “cores” rather than one. (A dual-core processor is essentially like having two processors on one chip.)

Vista will also support so-called 64-bit processors, which can gulp down more information than current machines. But I wouldn’t worry about that for now, unless you’re a power user. There’s very little 64-bit software available for consumers.

Vista may not be something to leap into right away. You may want to wait a while to see about defects and, especially, to see if it seems more secure, as promised.

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.

But as slick as it is, Apple’s latest baby isn’t the only path to portable digital video available to consumers. Others got there first. All, including the new iPod, suffer from a dearth of legal downloadable content, but that has begun to change as Hollywood and the television networks seem willing, suddenly, to sell individual episodes of television series.

Here’s a quick guide to some leading portable video devices.

Old reliables: All the new video gadgets should be measured against portable DVD players and laptops with DVD drives. The portable players combine relatively large screens with thin, light designs and low prices. The laptops are larger and pricier, but their advantage is that many people carry them anyway for other purposes. And both have a vast library of cheap content to draw from: DVDs. The downside is that you have to lug along a selection of disks.

Portable media centers: These are gadgets that are smaller than a laptop, but larger than an iPod. They use Microsoft software that mimics the nice user interface in its Media Center version of Windows. Leading examples are the Samsung Yepp PMC and the Creative Zen PMC, both of which cost $500, which is more than even the priciest video iPod. They have larger screens than the iPod, but smaller storage capacity. Little legally downloadable content is available for the PMCs, but users can transfer to them TV programs they have recorded on high-end Media Center PCs.

Sony: The new PSP, or PlayStation Portable, from Sony, has a large, bright screen that does a great job showing videos, even though it is primarily a game machine. This slick, black $250 gadget is handsome, but unlike the iPod, it’s too large to carry in a pocket. Also, getting video into the PSP is clumsy and expensive, mainly because it lacks either a hard disk or a standard DVD drive. You have to buy movies on special, small copy-protected disks. And if you want to transfer videos from a computer, you have to buy a high-capacity memory stick.

Archos: This small company has been a pioneer in handheld video and makes several models, in a wide variety of sizes and capacities, that cost from $500 to $800. In general, Archos buyers have been early-adopter techies and videophiles willing to do what it took to collect video clips and move them onto the Archos gadgets. But the company is now going mainstream, through a deal with EchoStar, the satellite TV firm. EchoStar will sell three Archos models, rebranded as PocketDISH players, that can copy and play back TV shows recorded by EchoStar set-top boxes with digital video recorders inside. The PocketDISH players range from $300 to $600.

iRiver: The Korean maker of portable music players has just introduced a tiny video player, smaller but thicker than the video iPod, called the U10. It’s a handsome gadget with a clever user interface: You select functions by pushing on the edges of the screen. But it has a meager storage capacity, only a gigabyte, in a top-of-the-line model that costs $250, just $50 less than a video iPod with a larger screen and 30 times the storage.

Apple: The video iPod, which Apple calls simply the iPod, comes in two models: a $299 version with 30 gigabytes of storage and a $399 model with 60 gigabytes. Like all iPods, it is beautiful, easy to use, and it’s thinner and lighter than the prior generation. Short videos look great on its screen. Apple is selling episodes of two hit TV shows, Desperate Housewives and Lost, for $1.99 each. Again, content for all these gadgets is sparse today. But as the availability of legal video downloads grows, so will the rationale for buying a portable video player.

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