I am wanting offline map viewer for bulk maps of an entire country (ie geofabrik .osm maps)
Only NO CODE INPUTS or any nerd stuff, I am too stupid for it. I tried every single program on
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Offline_Openstreetmap
and not one of them had a simple button labled “upload .osm file” instead it was all jargon about writing code scripts and alterations, good god man I just want to view some maps, not play around with the planets virtual structures!
Your operating system? Mac or pc or other?
Maybe you find what you need under http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Software/Mobile (if you want to see a map on your mobile) or http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Software/Desktop
Windows 7
No mobile, windows only. Which program can you recomend?
Do you just want to scroll around and zoom the map to look at places or do you wish to do more than that later.
I use Basecamp (listed in @escada’s link) because I have a gps that needs to be fed maps and tracks and routes and that is the only one I am familiar with.
You could try that too as it is a free download and will allow you to scroll around and view the map you download offline.
After downloading and installing Basecamp, watch the ‘introduction’ video guide first.
I download the map I need from here http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
Read the Manual at that site (if it seems to complex for you, bail out and wait for anothers suggestion)
there it states…
The _windows.exe version is useful if you have MapSource (MS) or BaseCamp (BC) installed. Just execute the .exe and it will unpack and install the map for MS or BC. When the installer is finished start MS or BC.
You would select the country you want to browse offline and order the map from the site. You will get an email when it is ready for you to download and depending on what you select, you may have to wait a couple of days. ( be warned not to try to download the whole world - just pick the country or state you live in for starters - even one country can be a very large download. You can download more later if you like the program )
After you have installed Basecamp and downloaded and istalled a map for it, you can select any maps you have under the ‘maps’ menu at the top and browse the map.
Basecamp is known to be not that friendly to use until you familiarise yourself with it, but for just browsing the map it is simple.
There are probably simpler solutions if you just want to browse offline, but all will involve downloading a map if you want to use it offline. There is a global map included in the Basecamp download but it has only the largest of roads and features on it and is only useful as an overview map.