GPS Maps from Windows to Mac

GPS maps may come as windows ".exe" file that can be used to install the maps on a Windows OS. Once installed it's quite easy to convert them to the ".gmapi" format needed for Mac OS.

So, here is how I converted the ".exe" maps to ".gmapi" file for Mac OS:

- Using a Virtual Box with a Windows XP image, run the maps.exe file to install the BaseCamp/MapSource maps. Note that MapSource/BaseCamp don't actually need to be installed.

- Download and install the Garmin MapConverter from: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3897. Note that to run the MapConverter, I also needed to install MS Visual C++ from: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5638

- Run MapConverter to generate the maps.gmapi file/folder. Copy the folder to the Mac and double click to open it in MapManager and install the maps.

The maps should now be accessible in  BaseCamp and available to MapManager. This is especially useful when you want to load and SD card with a specific set of maps.

Note that  GPS maps often come as a single Garmin ".img" file that is intended to be loaded directly onto a GPS device. While BaseCamp can read these files from a mounted SD card, disk image, or GPS device, only maps that you have "installed" on your computer will show up in MapManager and be accessible to MapInstall. I have found no easy way to convert or load ".img" files to "installed" maps.