This week Apple opened up the Mac App Store, so now you can peruse the various categories and download what you like.  The Mac App Store is essentially the App Store (for iPhone & iPad, as found within iTunes), the only difference being this new store is a separate application outside iTunes and the available apps within it are made specifically for the desktop.  It’s set up similarly to the App Store; the new store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories and you can browse the top free, paid, and grossing apps.  User ratings and reviews are also there to help you make purchases.  Currently there are over 1,000 first and third party apps to choose from.  Apple is offering the iLife suite in individual chunks; iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand apps cost $14.99 each.  The same applies to iWork; Pages, Keynote, and Numbers apps can be downloaded locally for $19.99 each.  Also Aperture 3 is there if you need it for $79.99.  Third party app developers are jumping on the Mac App Store bandwagon too; Twitter for Mac is free and for $4.99 you can kiss your workload goodbye and play a full-screen, high-res version of the highly addicting #1 game Angry Birds.

To access the Mac App Store you must download it; it comes bundled in the 10.6.6 software update, so Snow Leopard is required.  When you download an app it goes straight to your Applications folder and you can manage its location from there.  App purchases get charged to the credit card attached to your iTunes account.  When an app is due for an update you will be alerted and you can apply updates to your entire app collection with one click.  Again, to reiterate the point made earlier, the Mac App Store bares little difference from the App Store found in iTunes; you’ll feel right at home.

For now the app selection isn’t wildly abundant.  In due time, developers will flock to it and before you know it apps for OS X will explode just like they did on Apple’s mobile iOS devices.  Why I am so confident about this? Well that’s because news recently came out of Cupertino boasting that over one million apps have been downloaded from the Mac App Store in the first day of its existence.  Mac users have flocked to it, so developers will too.  Get ready for the next app revolution.  Full PR after the break.

[Via Apple] Continue reading The Mac App Store is now open for business →