Apple Mac App Store goes live on January 6

Mac users are on the threshold of a completely new desktop software buying experience. Apple  just announced that the Mac App Store will open for business on Thursday, January 6. By bringing the  App Store experience to Mac OS X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever.

Announced in the recent "Back to the Mac" event, the Mac App Store is the first desktop application online store released by any computer manufacturer and will allow users to purchase Mac software directly from their computers.

The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.

“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”

The Mac App Store lets you browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, view staff favorites, search categories and read customer ratings and reviews.

Like on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad™, you can purchase, download and install apps in just one click and start using them immediately. Purchased apps can run on all of your personal Macs and updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store so it’s easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store is available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard users as a free download through Software Update.

Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.