Good news from Garmin for Mac owners!

[X-Treme]

You know who you are, don't worry, the PC owners around here don't bite!

First of all, I've been holding off on posting this until the beta software settled down and became more stable but with today's update, I think it's stable enough that you'll get some real good use out of this. Mind you, it is still beta so it may still crash and it still has some quirks and missing features.

Now, if you're impatient and just want to jump in, use this link. Bookmark this page once your there, Garmin does provide a direct link to it from there site but for the life of me and can not remember where it is, it's that well hidden.

Bobcat (aka, MapSource for the Mac)

This software is the equivalent to MapSource on the PC, almost! The main feature it lacks is the ability to directly upload your maps to your Garmin GPS unit. That is handled by MapInstall, more on that below. Like MapSource, you can download all your waypoints and tracks from your GPS unit. Also, you can create new waypoints and routes and upload them to your GPS unit. Everything you need to do you can do and it looks awesome when compared to the PC version, MapSource. It will make you PC owners drool with envy, maybe even make you want to buy a Mac.

MapInstall

This is included with the download of Bobcat or it can be downloaded separately from the MapInstall web page. This does the function of MapSource that is missing in Bobcat, namely, it uploads your maps to your GPS unit. It's not as friendly as MapSource is for doing this, but seeing as you're most likely to do this very sparingly, it does the job. A PC version is also available. Why, I don't know. The PC has MapSource for doing this.

MapManager

I know, your probably saying, "but all my maps are on my PC, what good is a map install program on the Mac when all my maps are on my PC." Well, that's where MapManager comes in. It installs on your PC and converts all the PC versions of Garmin maps into Mac versions. Than you just transfer them to your Mac and viola, Garmin maps on your Mac. Incidentally, Garmin has started selling their maps in both PC and Mac versions, not all of them mind you but all updated maps disks include both PC and Mac version. Unfortunately, if you buy the Canadian Topo maps though, you'll have to install them on a PC first, convert them and then transfer them over to your Mac.

The rest of these have been around for a while and are no longer in their beta form so they are very stable to use.

WebUpdater

Like the PC version, this is a simple little program whose sole purpose is to update the firmware on a computer connected Garmin GPS unit.

Communicator Plugin

This one is a web browser plugin. Again, like the PC version, this allows you to download data like, waypoints, tracks, and routes, directly from a web site. Geocache.com uses it to allow you to download cache data directly from their web site. It works with both Safari and Firefox on the Mac.

POI Loader

Again, like the PC version, this simple program allows you to upload custom 'Points of Interest' to your Garmin GPS. You can download them from Garmin or from other sources on the Internet.

There are a couple of other pieces of software as well geared toward fitness, If you have an interest in that, check out the rest of the web page.

Still missing!

That haven't released any software that is the equivalent of nRoute. nRoute, if your not familiar with it, allows you to turn a regular computer, a laptop for example, into a GPS unit. Think of it as MapSource but with the abilities to give you turn-by-turn directions like your GPS unit does, except it use voice prompts like the more expensive GPS's do. Just plug your existing GPS into your laptops USB port or buy the low cost GPS receiver only units which come with nRoute, fire up your laptop and go.