[Eclipsemullet]

http://gizmodo.com/343748/garmin-to-roll...t-macworld

[GPSNavX]

I am not going to hold my breath for Garmin OS X compatibility promises. In January 2006 Garmin promised OS X compatibility, but have so far failed to deliver anything of significance (i.e. a way to get Garmin Bluecharts on to their GPS receivers without MS Windows)

http://www8.garmin.com/pressroom/corporate/011006.html

So now they are announcing something, but not even telling us what it will do.

[Eclipsemullet]

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/17/garm...-mac-os-x/

[ginginsman]

I am not going to hold my breath for Garmin OS X compatibility promises. In January 2006 Garmin promised OS X compatibility, but have so far failed to deliver anything of significance (i.e. a way to get Garmin Bluecharts on to their GPS receivers without MS Windows)

http://www8.garmin.com/pressroom/corporate/011006.html

So now they are announcing something, but not even telling us what it will do.

Well, having downloaded and installed all their bits, the only Windows part I had to do was run the PC --> Mac chart converter (in W XP, in VMware). Took about 20 minutes to convert the Bluechart V9 CD. Connect the GPSMap 76Csx via USB, launch Map install, open the Mac formatted charts, and it appears to be willing to upload them; as I have not unlocked any new areas recently, I couldn't put it to the test.

Also installed the webupdater, which finds the GPSMap and appears to check for updates; again, can't confirm what happens if it finds them as I had updated it under Windoze/VMware recently.

Whether Bluecharts are acceptable or not I don't know so far, and much else remains to be proven, but so far, so good, for what it's worth. I still detest these closed mapping systems as much as anyone but since I have this Garmin unit it's worth seeing what it can do.

I haven't tested the POI loader yet.

I'm doing this all in Leopard 10.5.1 on a 24" iMac.

[bstamerjon]

So, does this new software obviate the need for the serial interface cable and the Keyspan adapter? Bert

[Guest]

Garmin's Bobcat software only supports some of their USB GPS models. They aren't really serious about providing support to the marine, aviation or professional navigation markets where serial and NMEA interfaces are prevalent.

Get iGPS if you want to work with waypoints and routes for serial interface Garmin GPS units.

More information about iGPS is here.

[GPSNavX]

All Garmin needs to do is develop a driver for OS X that will convert their proprietary data that is sent over the USB cable to NMEA. Then all of a sudden their GPS with USB cables would be backwards compatible with many applications that rely on NMEA (the standard for marine instrumentation).

[Guest]

That wouldn't be asking a bit too much of Garmin would it?

Somehow I think that Garmin would rather sell you their proprietary networking system. BTW, Furuno have come out with marine instrumentation and they do support their products very well.