USPS shipping from a Mac...

[chafnerjr]

Alright, I admittedly couldn't find the best place to put this post on the forums so here it is... for those of you who are constantly shipping stuff with USPS either through sales here with AO or on ebay or anything else like that need to pay attention if you use a Mac... Here's the statement from macnn.com

Mac owners may soon find themselves inconvenienced when trying to ship packages online, a note from the US Postal Service indicates. For some time the USPS has let people pay for shipping online through its web-based Click-N-Ship service, which eliminates the need to buy physical postage. The service is being discontinued after May 12th however, which will force customers to use the USPS Shipping Assistant software if they want to avoid buying postage.

The difficulty is that at present, the only available version of Shipping Assistant runs on Windows 2000 or later, effectively excluding Mac users from pay-without-postage schemes unless they run Boot Camp. In response to inquiries from MacNN, the USPS says that Mac users will still be able to print labels in May, but will have to buy their own postage.

Just thought that I'd post this to help any trades keep shipping on time.

[doc_Zox]

if you have a modern intel base mac
parallels desktop running windoze XP works well

[nevtangle]

Thanks for the heads up. Just another reason I don't use USPS. Besides the fact that they are always losing stuff. I like the tracking systems for Fed-Ex and UPS a lot better.

[chafnerjr]

Well said

I've got to agree on both parts. Though I've been told that VM Ware's Fusion product deals with muti core processors a bit better... I haven't tried it though, only Parallels and BootCamp

As for USPS... damn skippy , I'm for Fed-Ex all the way, it jst that it seems like every person on the face of the planet send me parts through USPS... USPS just snet me a conformation that one of my parts has been shipped which actually happened two days ago :-(

Glad to hear that there are other mac users here, should make sense though.

[punkncat]

The fact that USPS costs about 1/3 or more less than UPS or FedEx is not lost on me. I can use one of the "fixed rate" postage boxes that cost say $5-6 with a confirmation, or go spend nearly $20 with the UPS store. The only conveniance being that I can know which hub my package happens to be sitting in when I want to.
The disadvantage to the delivery confirmation by USPS is minor when compared to my money.
The only other disadvantage I see when using USPS is that technically you are not supposed to ship markers through them. So anything that I have to insure for a high value I will ship through other carriers that do not have those stipulations.

I guess I have been lucky and should probably knock on wood, but I have had no problems with USPS using priority service and a confirmation.

[sithos]

The easiest way to do this is:

Reboot the computer
When it is loading the os, hold apple+option+w
once it loads, open safari
in the address bar type

https://www.dell.com

select a good computer
profit





I keed I keed.

Wish I could help, but the iMac at work with a 4 inch screen doesn't get used much.

[chafnerjr]

The easiest way to do this is:

Reboot the computer
When it is loading the os, hold apple+option+w
once it loads, open safari
in the address bar type

https://www.dell.com

select a good computer
profit





I keed I keed.

Wish I could help, but the iMac at work with a 4 inch screen doesn't get used much.

How very interesting Someone who knows the mac well enough to have memorized at least some shortcuts and still loves the dell...weird. I'm getting pretty off topic here... Question though, why would you close any open windows when you've booted the computer fresh? I know I'm just being a pain in the butt

[robnix]

Alright, I admittedly couldn't find the best place to put this post on the forums so here it is... for those of you who are constantly shipping stuff with USPS either through sales here with AO or on ebay or anything else like that need to pay attention if you use a Mac... Here's the statement from macnn.com

Mac owners may soon find themselves inconvenienced when trying to ship packages online, a note from the US Postal Service indicates. For some time the USPS has let people pay for shipping online through its web-based Click-N-Ship service, which eliminates the need to buy physical postage. The service is being discontinued after May 12th however, which will force customers to use the USPS Shipping Assistant software if they want to avoid buying postage.

The difficulty is that at present, the only available version of Shipping Assistant runs on Windows 2000 or later, effectively excluding Mac users from pay-without-postage schemes unless they run Boot Camp. In response to inquiries from MacNN, the USPS says that Mac users will still be able to print labels in May, but will have to buy their own postage.

Just thought that I'd post this to help any trades keep shipping on time.

The only thing that will change is the abilty to print labels WITHOUT postage via click and ship. Mac and Linux users will still be able to print labels WITH postage on them.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/04/14/usps-snubs-mac-users-with-changes-to-click-n-ship-service

UPDATE: A helpful reader emailed to point out that what is being removed from Click-n-Ship is the ability to print labels without paying for postage. The original information was mis-read because, as some commenters pointed out, there seems to be little point in printing the labels without postage. While not as irksome as if it had been the other way around, some individuals and businesses may find the ability to keep track of shipments, even of the postage is paid for separately, a handy service. We regret the error in the original articl

https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do

Note:
After 5/12/08, the option to print a label without postage will no longer be
available within Click-N-Ship. If you would like to print labels without
postage after this date, please download USPS Shipping Assistant.

[Chris_automag_07]

if you have a modern intel base mac
parallels desktop running windoze XP works well

boot camp is basically a parrallels program.

[jenarelJAM]

Meh. Windows + linux > mac.

Dual boot.
Windows for apps you need windows for.
Linux for speed, reliability productivity. Did I mention it's free, and very easy to set up?

fin

[SR_matt]

boot camp is basically a parrallels program.

ya but some have better luck running parrallels or one of the other ones. if you use mac and just need to use an app or 2 in windows bootcamp becomes a PITA.

o and to the people who dont like macs, just a little bit of info, windows runs better on the apple built machines than it does on pc built machines... irony?

-matt