In a message dated 1/31/05 12:00:59 AM, George writes: << While I am in the process of converting to Mac (I am tired of fighting a daily war against viruses, mal-ware, ad-ware and spy-ware), Windows XP actually does the same thing as you describe. Do you use a Mac based navigation product? >> George, I didn't want to insult the legions of Window users that said that modern Windows operating systems offered the same capabilities as the Mac in opening unidentified files. It's just that the Mac users, right from the start, have had always the ability to alter both the type and the creator of a file and have it open in any software. For the last 15 years, Macs, out of the box, have been able to read and write in PC supported formats, and with the use of PC emulation software (Virtual PC), to use any software written for the PC. The reverse is not the case. I guess I'm just spoiled. I use an older Mac navigation program, GPSy 3.39 (www.gpsy.com), which will run on all Macs prior to those using OSX. It will also run on OSX Macs in the Classic mode. It does all the basic navigation functions quite well and supports Maptech and Softchart charts. It will also work with charts that you scan yourself in most pictorial formats (JPG, TIFF, PICT, etc.). It does not support the ENC vector charts yet, however the GPSy website says that a later version does so. GPSy costs $50 without an education discount, $30 if you can claim affiliation with a school. A free limited working copy can be downloaded from the website. There are several newer Mac navigation programs available but I haven't used them. Older versions of MacSea, a premium navigation program much loved by circumnavigators, works on the Mac natively. The newest version must use PC emulation to run on OSX. NavimaQ, if it is still being supported, works well. The Cap'n works well on the latest Macs with PC emulation. I have discussed scanning in paper charts in a lengthy post which I will be happy to send to anyone interested in this type of do-it-yourself project. Fugawi, for PCs, allows the use of self scanned charts as well. Our taxes have already paid for the charts. Why pay twice? My main reason for using the program is that I can use my older Mac laptop, a G3 Firewire, in the semi-hazardous marine environment without the worry of submerging a couple of thousand dollars worth of the latest technology. I also use a 10 year old Mac Duo 280 laptop at the upper steering station. The Duo has a B&W display which is fully readable in direct sunlight. In fact the brighter the light, the more readable the display. It runs the same software and, if inundated by a rogue wave, can be replaced for only $150 by a suitable e-Bay purchase. As far as viruses and spyware go, the Mac is largely, but not entirely immune, provided that you update your virus protection software occasionally. Larry Z

> Fugawi, for PCs, allows the use of self scanned charts as > well. Our taxes have already paid for the charts. Why pay twice? > Your taxes didn't pay for the conversion of the paper charts to digital format and the requisite correlation between lat/lon position and pixel position. Your taxes also didn't pay for the updates done to the digital charts to add NTM changes - the biggest change to come in 2005 (although it has existed for a few years already). The digital raster charts that I use have less than 1 pixel of error across the entire image when correlated to the original paper chart. I seriously doubt that any "self scanned" chart has anything close to this accuracy and would be very careful using chart data processed in that way. To be honest, being careful isn't good enough. I wouldn't use a "self scanned" chart, period. Unless you've seen the process of converting paper charts (actually they use the mylar versions because paper stretches too unpredictably), you wouldn't have any idea about the amount of work that it takes to make digital charts appropriate for navigation. ================ Jeffrey Siegel M/V aCappella DeFever 53PH W1ACA/WDB4350 Castine, Maine