I don't understand why news outlets are making such a big deal of this. Amazon have offered software downloads for a while now. Previously it was just Windows software; now they also have Mac software. It is not like it is unprecedented for a website to offer Mac software downloads.

I think one reason it's news is because people have predicted that Adobe CS and Office will never be on the Mac App Store. If there's a competing store that does offer such titles a few big titles like that are enough to give it some steam. And it's Amazon so they already have steam.

It means Amazon has failed at properly marketing their software download center thing, I'd say ;)

Is this anything really new?

For the last couple of years I have purchased and downloaded Quickbooks & TurboTax for Mac via Amazon. This looks like it is mostly just a landing page consolidating the Mac related downloadable programs that Amazon has been selling for sometime.

I agree with you here. It appears to be a landing page that consolidates the downloadable Mac software and also tracks and allows redownloading of the software via the library feature.

Competition is a good thing, hopefully it will push Apple to lower prices and offer more selection. I've used both stores and I strongly prefer Apple's. I prefer the design and I find it easier to discover apps I would consider buying.

Link to the Amazon Mac Software store: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?&docId=1000691231

Anyone got a developers prospective on this? What needs to be done to your software to make it work? What is the pricing like and payout?

Hmm... could this open up some kind of anti-trust suit since only Apple is able to have an app store on iOS?

It's not an "app store". It's a website with downloadable software.

hmm a website that sells stuff can be called a "store"... and if stuff happens to be "apps"... makes an "app store" to me, doesn't it? :)

In exactly the same way that a brick and mortar store which happens to sell software can be called an app store, yes.

In theory this competes more directly with the mac App store than the iOS app store.

I just mean since there's no way Amazon could do the same for iOS.

It doesn't compete at all with the iOS app store, they are only selling OSX desktop applications, not mobile iOS ones.