Garmin Releases Bobcat Software for Mac OS X

This is fantastic news for any Garmin user with a Mac. Up until now it's been a pain for Mac users to even use their Garmin devices, hopefully this will change all of that. :D

Although personally www.garmin.com/mac should lead to their Mac software section, which is pretty difficult to find as it is just scattered with all their other software. As of now it leads to a lame 404 page. I sent them an e-mail about it months ago, and they said they'll pass it along. Let's hope they do! (A few more of the same e-mails may help too) :)

Dugg!

Does this work with sea maps (for sailing?).

I've been waiting for this for a long time, Garmin rox! And one more thing to convince my dad to buy himself a Mac Mini and leave windows with no regrets! (Yeah I've shown him Parallels and Bootcamp Windows XP and that still doesn't give him enough incentive to switch)

It's too bad this is a preview built (hopefully the final version will not cost money) so not everything works. The "find address" feature doesn't work so it makes it near useless for me.

Does this work with sea maps (for sailing?).

It works for any Garmin map set as long as you have the CD. I just converted, City Navigator North America V8, and Topo maps.

What this does is basically converts a Windows map CD/DVDs to work with Mac, and the 25MB Bobcat software is the front end for OSX.

Wow the Garmin site is LAME. Go to Garmin.com and do a search for "Bobcat" and you get...nothing! Good thing Macrumors provided a thread. BTW, the documentation says that an Intel processor is required. Rats.

Wow the Garmin site is LAME. Go to Garmin.com and do a search for "Bobcat" and you get...nothing! Good thing Macrumors provided a thread. BTW, the documentation says that an Intel processor is required. Rats.

* Bobcat allows you to transfer waypoints, tracks, and routes between your Mac and Garmin device and manage your data using your Garmin maps.
* Bobcat provides the ability to search for points of interest from the convenience of your Mac and then send the locations to your Garmin GPS.
* Bobcat also serves as a backup tool for your Garmin GPS. You can receive all your waypoints, routes, and tracks from your GPS and Bobcat will save them automatically.
* MapManager copies maps and unlock codes into the right place to be accessible by Bobcat and MapInstall. To migrate the maps from your Windows PC, download MapConverter onto your PC and follow the instructions.
* Download and install MapConverter for Windows to convert your unlocked PC maps for use on your Mac. For more information please read this document. (PDF file- 245KB)
* System Requirements:
Intel-based or PowerPC G3 or later Mac
OS 10.4 or later
512 MB RAM
USB port
* Please email us if you experience any issues at mac.bobcat@garmin.com.
* Although this software is believed to be reliable, it has not yet been released for production and should be used at your own risk.

I'm loving this, especially the ability to use nautical mapping. :D

Sailing + Macs, what a combo :D

Finally I can get some use out of that thing.
No Mac support has made the GPS closed and useless. I can't wait to be able to upload maps and routes and waypoints.

I know I had a whole bunch of reasons for wanting to be able to do this. Just because I can't remember them right now doesn't mean they aren't valid! :)

I'll put new batteries in it and see if I can remember.

I have a couple hand held Garmin devices and was excited a couple years ago when Garmin announced that they would be releasing software for the Mac.

Almost 2 years went by with nothing but vapor.
I was really looking forward to buying the Nuvii, but decided to go with TomTom, becuase TomTom had a Mac software interface (its half baked, but at least they had a deliverable).

I will have to upload my old Mapsource North America disc into "Bobcat" and see how this works on my Garmin devices. If it works well, I can delete my bootcamp partition that I have kept alive for the old kludgey Garmin PC software, so that I could upload maps to, and download waypoints from my Garmin handheld (hiking-style) GPS.

I guess Garmin couldn't ignore the growing Mac market share and the whiny Mac users that come with it! ;-)

So, what does Bobcat have that I wouldn't find in their MapSource Trip & Waypoint software?