14 DAY TRIAL // Apple debuted the Mac App Store on January 6 via an official announcement that confirmed the service was ‘open for business’ with more than 1,000 free and paid apps.
Even before the service had gone online, many speculated that Apple’s web-based Downloads area would vanish, as the Mac App Store would pick up from there.
Four months into the launch of the Mac App Store, apple.com/downloads/macosx/ is still alive and kicking. Well, it’s only just alive. The kicking part was for the sake of using that expression.
The fact of the matter is Apple hasn’t touched the backend of its Downloads area since November 2010 (not to be mistaken with Apple's Support Downloads section, which receives maintenance on a regular basis).
The last featured update is Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2011, a drawing and painting software designed for use with tablet PCs or digitized pen tablets.
Well, there could be any number of reasons, such as Apple simply forgetting to remove it.
But how can one settle on that silly (yet fairly possible) argument?
We’re also inclined to believe the Mac App Store is not driving that many downloads, perhaps not yet contributing to the popularity of the Macintosh through a vast library of third party software.
You see, when Apple introduced the Mac App Store, it set in place new rules for distribution, forcing many developers to have second thoughts about taking their business to the Mac App Store.
As a result of this, the Mac App Store was not, and still isn’t getting populated very rapidly.
In fact, it’s not growing nearly as fast as the iOS App Store did when it first launched. Granted, coding a Mac app is harder, but porting an existing one to the storefront surely isn’t.
Well, many of those uncertain developers are still featuring their applications on the Downloads area of Apple’s website, as well as on services like Bodega, and of course sites like Softpedia.
Then again, if the folks at Apple are keeping the site alive to drive downloads, why on Earth haven’t they updated any of the listings for over half a year now?
The comments column awaits your own theory on the matter.