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Mac App Store to open January 6, available in 90 countries
The Mac App Store, if it isn't obvious, aims to revolutionize the distribution of PC programs in much the same way as the iOS App Store. The idea is to provide quick and easy access to the latest and greatest in Mac OS X apps, and will feature categories, staff picks, and customer reviews and ratings, just like the other App Store.
The only comparable service to the Mac App Store is Valve's Steam, and it will be interesting to see whether Apple's new offering nibbles away at Steam's market share. More importantly, it's now only a matter of time until an equivalent marketplace emerges on the Windows platform; and indeed, could the fragmented Windows ecosystem even support an App Store?
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentskojo87Dec 16th 2010 10:00AM
i still can't decide if i like the idea of a application store for a desktop OS. an application store would be a lot like Steam except Steam ads vital social networking features. if Steam didn't do friends lists and there was no community aspect of it so it was nothing more than a digital distribution platform for games would i still use it? probably not. (ok maybe because they have crazy sales all the time) whats the point in limiting yourself to one retailer when there is no advantage to doing so? then again Ubuntu has had an application distribution platform built in for a long time and i find that quite convenient. i suppose as long as you can still install applications from outside the store there really isn't any argument against it. i just don't want Microsoft's ecosystem to become as restricted as Apple's.
the more i think about it the more i am impressed with how far ahead of its time Steam was back in 2004. Valve are crazy geniuses.
Sebastian AnthonyDec 16th 2010 10:27AM
@kojo87 Yeah, it's the social/achievement aspect of Steam which really drives the sales, I think. The number of games I've bought because of my friends...
As has been said, Mac App Store won't prevent you from going outside the walled garden. But it will make Mac users in general even further removed from the rest of the world. Reality distortion bubble... GO!
mer2329Dec 16th 2010 7:40PM
i like the fact that windows dosent manage all your apps (like linux does) because when updates happen it downloads them all (which can be a hefty download sometimes)
i like to update when i want to use the app because i have some apps on my computer that i run every other month but update once ot twice a week
on the other hand some apps should be handled by windows (or microsoft) update
like your security programs (besides microsoft security essentials)
now im all for options. a option to hand update handling to windows (or microsoft) update for select apps would be a major plus