Some Random Thoughts About the New Mac App Store

As many of you Mac owners probably know, Apple decided to finally release the much ballyhooed Mac App Store yesterday as a software update (10.6.6 IIRC).  Being the curious one that I am, here are a few random thoughts and musings from my quick overview of it.

1.) Angry Birds has come to the Mac...

...but it's crazy expensive for the game.  Don't get me wrong -- I love Angry Birds.  But $5 for it?  I think I'll stick to the mobile version.

2.) My condolences to the people who decided to buy the iWork bundle again thinking that it was the '11 version.  Apparently there's a bug in the software that doesn't pick up that you already have it installed, but that should be fixed soon enough (it was on mine...).

3.) Aperture is cheap.  Well, almost.  Gimp is still my preferred photo manipulation/editor tool if you don't mind X11.  $80 is $80.

4.) I've seen a bunch of these apps randomly strewn across the internet in the past.  I guess this is just Apple's way of condensing things.

5.) iLife '11 individual apps can be had for 14.99 a piece.  That's a good thing, too, because I largely find iPhoto and Garageband useless for my tastes.  iMovie, on the other hand, is what I use for youtube videos, so that got my download.

6.) Twitter is the #1 free app right now.  TheAppNook approves.

7.) When in doubt about which version of an app to get, portable is usually better.  And cheaper.

8.) Having an all-in-one update feature ala iTunes is going to be a huge boon for the lazy people out there (read, me) who never get around to updating apps.

9.) Growl isn't in the store.  Get moving, guys.

10.) Microsoft hasn't put the Office Suite on there, either.  They're either wanting exclusivity rights, or Apple is trying to sell old iWork programs.  Or Microsoft is trying to siphon every last penny out of you.

So there you have it, just a few random thoughts about the whole thing.  I may find other random tidbits here and there, but this whole thing has underwhelmed me compared to what the iOS App Store has become.