I'm not sure exactly how many apps are available at the Mac App Store, but there are enough that the perception that there's "no software" for the Mac will vanish -- if it hasn't already.

Also, it seems that the quality of the average app on the Mac App Store is higher than that for a typical iOS device on the Apple App Store. (By the way, don't you think the Apple App Store should be redubbed the iOS App Store? After all, the Mac App Store is as much an "Apple" store as the one for the iPhone, iPad and iPod.)

Joseph Beauliue, senior stock analyst with Morningstar (http://macte.ch/CjURB), an investing research group, also thinks the Mac App Store is going to help Macs in a bit way.

"We think the launch of the Mac Application Store (patterned after the iTunes Application Store) could help Apple maintain or accelerate its pace of market share gains," he writes. "Historically, one of the biggest knocks against the Mac platform has been the relative scarcity of third-party applications. The smaller developer base (relative to the Windows third-party developer base) was exacerbated by the poor distribution of the Mac software that was developed. We think the Mac Application Store could help mitigate this disadvantage and eliminate one potential concern a new customer might have about switching to the platform."

-- Dennis Sellers