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Danyll Wills

I  recently purchased an iMac. I used to have a PC and am relatively new to the Mac environment. I am having a problem using the fax program (Smith Micro's FAXstf X.)

According to the instructions, when I choose 'Add Printer' I should be able to see the fax program and  add it to the printer list, however, this does not appear. What am I missing? 

I called the Apple hotline, but they said this is not part of their package and therefore they cannot help me.

I have tested the modem and it works fine. I have also downloaded another fax program for Mac called Coma X and encountered the same problem with this as well.

Rani
Tsim Sha Tsui


I gave up on faxes a while ago and simply tell people if they do not have e-mail, we cannot communicate. 

Others  still depend on faxes and that is fine. Sending and receiving them through the computer makes a lot of sense - and saves paper - but it can be frustrating if the software fails on you. Look at VersionTracker (www.versiontracker.com), a website that keeps track of Macintosh software. 
It has reviews of products and, although I am usually  sceptical about what anonymous critics have to say about a product on the internet, it gives   you  a general idea of what people think about  a product. Unfortunately, FAXstf X is highly criticised by many users on this site.
Before you give up completely though,  you may want to see if there is an installation disc included in your software package. You could try reinstalling the software. You should also check that the versions of the operating system and the product are compatible. 
The maker is Smith Micro (www.smithmicro.com) . FAXstf X 10.1.4 requires Mac OS X 10.2 or greater. If you do not need to upgrade,  ask for help at the shop where you bought your iMac. Apple will not help you because they do not support third-party software, but if you got your computer  at one of the local Macintosh shops, most of the people there are helpful about this sort of thing.
CoMa X Version 6.4.1, from German company Hartman Software (hartmann-b.de), is also on  VersionTracker, but has not been there long enough to have any reviews. English documentation has also   just been released. It is shareware and not  the commercial FAXstf. 
There is quite a lot of fax software around for the Mac, so you  have several  choices if you want to try something else.
PageSender was mentioned several times on VersionTracker, and was considered quite good by most. Not only is it also shareware, but all users   say it actually works.
Questions to Tech Talk will not be answered personally. E-mail Danyll Wills at tech.talk@scmp.com.




Fax software poses puzzling user problems