Mac OSX Lion compatible topo software

[cshontz]

IIRC, you can do pretty much everything with macgpspro, except communicate with a GPS unit

You may be thinking of a different software. I've had MacGPS Pro for a few years, and have always used it to navigate in real-time with my 276C. I'm not particularly fond of the software, though. Just felt obligated to chime in.

[Charlie56]

How about keeping your Nat Geo Topo and running it inside a virtual machine that has Windows loaded as the OS?
I have a Macbook pro with Lion and Parallels Virtual software. Topo works just fine.

[vdeal]

NG Topo! state series runs just fine under Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). I have it running on my work Mac. No problems.

[JRhetts]

IIRC, you can do pretty much everything with macgpspro, except communicate with a GPS unit. IMO, its a rather important function.

Maybe that has changed since I looked into it a year or two ago (or maybe I'm thinking of some other software package -pretty sure it's the same one though), but I can't get to the site to verify.

I don't want to be argumentative, but I have used MacGPSPro extensively for the last 8-10 years, including driving to Panama, all over Baja, all over the western US and both the Yukon and NWT in Canada.

There is no problem transferring files [Waypoints, Tracklogs, Routes] from a Mac to a GPS [incuding Garmin and Magellan units specifically] and from a GPS to the Mac. I have run my Mac+MacGPSPro with input from a Bluetooth GPS for many years; it handles this seamlessly. [My current favorite is G-Sat's #BT-368, which never dropped a signal in 3 months of driving in the Yukon including heavy cover and heavy weather.]

MacGPSPro uses USGS 1:24k [7.5 minute] Topo maps which are geo-referenced into ".PICT" files. You can record real-time tracklogs directly into MacGPSPro or record them on a separate GPS and download and display them in MacGPSPro. Each GPS device company has its own file format so it can make money off the captive audience that has invested in its hardware. However, there are very good sources for free maps in Garmin format. [My favorite is: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/]. However you cannot up- or down-load maps themselves to a GPS from MacGPSPro, anymore than you can upload and display Nat Geo maps on, for example, a Garmin. So this is NOT a limitation of MacGPSPro.

Disclaimer: I have no interest in MacGPSPro except for being a satisfied user for many years. I just don't want to see incorrect information stand about this or any other application or hardware.

[vdeal]

Just a follow-up, NG Topo! state series still running fine on a MacPro tower (2 actually). One running Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and the other running Lion (10.7.5). I see no reason why it shouldn't run under Mt. Lion either. BTW, I'm an IT systems admin and general jack-of-all-trades IT guy and have been running Macs since the OS 6 days. I wonder if the problem is installing Topo on a new 10.7 machine instead of my situation where Topo has been on machines that have been upgraded through the OSes. Shouldn't really matter but if that is the case, then you could find an older machine, install Topo and then copy over the files.