Apple Launching Mac App Store

Apple will be launching its anticipated Mac App Store on January 6.

The store will be available in 90 countries at launch, and like its mobile counterpart, it will feature access to both paid and free apps across several categories, including education, productivity, and games, among others, Apple announced today. Users will be able to download the Mac App Store through Software Update.

The Mac App Store experience will be familiar to those who currently have iOS-based devices such as the iPhone. The marketplace's users will be able to get information about apps prior to downloading them, as well as see customer ratings and reviews. Updates to apps users have installed will be available through the Mac App Store, Apple said.

"The App Store revolutionized mobile apps," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a statement. "We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun."

Developers who choose to offer paid apps will be able to keep 70 percent of the revenue generated from their programs, while Apple will take the remaining 30 percent. In addition, those who offer free apps will not be charged by Apple to offer their programs in the Mac App Store.

Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment on how many apps would be available in its marketplace at launch.

The Mac App Store's January 6 launch date is perhaps a bit ahead of schedule. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the Mac App Store in October, he indicated that it would be available to Mac OS X users within 90 days, prompting some to believe the store would launch at the end of January.

The Mac App Store will only be available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard users at launch. It will also come with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, which is expected to be released next summer.