On Jan. 6, Apple Inc. launched the Mac App Store as part of the Mac OS X v10.6.6 operating system update. The launch follows the successful App Store for Apple’s iOS devices, which include the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
The Mac App Store, which was announced at the Oct. 2010 Apple “Back to Mac” event, allows users to browse and download applications, commonly known as “apps,” directly to their Mac computers. The apps– available either for free or at a cost– fall under a number of categories, from games to education to business.
Mac users did not need to purchase the Mac App Store when launched, since the Mac OS X v10.66 software update released on Jan. 6 included the free download of the Mac App Store.
This online store offers a variety of apps, ranging from flagship Apple products such as iWork, iLife, and Aperture, to third-party apps originally on iOS devices.
Such third-party apps include “Flight Control,” “Chopper 2,” and “Angry Birds”– the number one paid app on the Mac App Store’s launch day.
Within 24 hours of the Mac App Store’s launch, users downloaded more than one million apps.
This statistic “amazed” Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who said in a press release that “developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”
An employee at a local Apple store, who was granted anonymity due to his job contract, has the same viewpoint as Jobs.
“The Mac App Store is the next step to having all of these incredible applications and types of media on all of your devices,” the employee said.
However, the Mac App Store has not been publicized as largely as other Apple products have been.
On the day of its launch, promotion for the service was seen only in a small box toward the bottom of Apple’s homepage.
Due to the lack of promotion, many students have not been made fully aware of the Mac App Store and its capabilities. However, they find the idea of the product interesting and intriguing.
“I’ve always liked the idea of the App Store for iPods, and having it come to Macs should be revolutionary because now all the games that I played on my iPod, I can now play on a larger screen,” Camilla Broccolo ’14 said.
Because the physical size of the iOS devices are relatively small and limited, Christina Peterson ’12 thinks that having the apps on a larger-sized computer provides a “beneficially easier access to applications and programs.”
The Mac App Store is only available for download for Mac users that have Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the latest desktop and operating system for Mac computers.
“To be able to have the apps that I have on my iPhone on my computer sounds so convenient,” Bailey Valente ’13, who does not have Mac OS X Snow Leopard, said.
To download the Mac App Store, users that do have Mac OS X Snow Leopard can check for a software update in the top left corner of their computer screens.
