Database

I am new to mac development ... I am trying to port an app for windows to the latest MAC OS ... and I have a question ...

The windows app creates an access database to store things, and it is not required to have access installed, it just uses that format .. i need to use something similar for MAC that is sort of native to MAC and most common .. what is a common database format used for MAC? i need to use something for which there are lots of drivers, mature, stable, etc ... should i use mysql?

i just dont want to choose something that may not be standard for mac and i might have trouble supporting it in the future ...

This all depends on how sophisticated a database you need. You could use something light like SQLite or you could just as easily use something a little more sophisticated like MySQL or PostgreSQL. The latter two do not come with OS X so if this is going to be distributed, that will be something to consider. One thing to consider as well is how well the language you're using supports each of the aforementioned DBs (you should be fine though) and whether or not they support other formats.

I'm an ORACLE and SQL Server Developer & DBA. I love databases. Do you mean proper RDBMS, and/or Datawarehouses?

I wish Apple made a database system for the Mac platform. The best I could find was MySQL - open source, and a nightmare to use compared to SQL Server (the one and only good piece of software Microsoft ever made). Apple had FileMaker in the '80s and it has grown, but it really is plankton compared to SQL Server. I have SQL Server 2008 running on Windows on my Mac Pro, seamlessly.

I'd say MS Access is a lot more sophisticated than FileMaker.

A Mac is short for "Macintosh." It's not an acronym, thus it should not be capitalised.

To put it another way:
mac: a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
MAC: a data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the Media Access Control
Mac: a brand name which covers several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc.

Ditto for iPod.

This is probably better placed here in the developer forum.

Given you mention Access, I'm guessing you want a local and perhaps private user store. In that case I'd start my investigation with SQLite which is installed with OS X and iOS.