Apple opens Mac App store

Apple today quietly stole some of the thunder from the Consumer Electronics Show that is captivating the gadget world from Las Vegas. From its headquarters in Cupertino, California, it announced that the Mac App Store is now open for business, and kicking off with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. But you still need iTunes, and you need to upgrade your operating system.

Apple today announced that the Mac App Store is open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. Mac users can find and buy new apps using their iTunes account, and download and install them in one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6. ‚With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start,‚ said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. ‚We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.‚ The announcement from Apple headquarters in Cupertino came as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) officially opened in Las Vegas this morning. Apple is notorious both for snubbing CES and for upstaging it with major announcements like the iPhone three years ago and the iPad last year. It is unlikely, however, that an app store for Mac will succeed in upstaging the coming of age of both the tablet computer and 3D TV being witnessed at CES. The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. As with the iPhone App Store, users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.

Entirely new apps, as well as current Mac favorites, are available from developers such as Autodesk, Ancestry.com : and Boinx. iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand apps from Apple’s popular iLife ‚11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for $14.99 each, and Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps from iWork are available for $19.99 each. Aperture 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for $79.99. ‚We’re delighted to bring our professional-grade paint and drawing app, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, to the Mac App Store on its first day of launch,‚ said Carl Bass, Autodesk’s CEO. ‚We’ve seen tremendous success on the Mac, iPhone and iPad with multiple apps. We’re excited to offer SketchBook Pro on the Mac App Store so artists can easily create everything from quick sketches to high-quality artwork right on their Macs.‚ ‚By offering the Ancestry.com : Family Tree Maker app on the Mac App Store, we’re making it even easier for people to discover and access their family history,‚ said Tim Sullivan, Ancestry.com : ‘s CEO. ‚The Mac App Store will drive a new generation of innovation on the Mac platform.‚ ‚We’re thrilled to have our award-winning animation, video production and photography software available on the new Mac App Store,‚ said Oliver Breidenbach, Boinx Software’s CEO. ‚The Mac App Store makes it easier than ever for consumers to access all the innovative software designed for the Mac.‚ To get the Mac App Store, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit www.apple.com/mac/app-store. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac .