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Unlike the iPhone and iPad you can still purchase applications directly from the developer and install them on your Mac.I've run across any number of apps that can be d/l'ed
only from the Mac App Store, and, conversely, I've spoken to developers who seem to be unaware that they can go in both directions at the same time.
I wonder if there's some sort of breakdown in communication going on.
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In fact if you have the app already installed the MAS will recognize that it is installed but it will not allow you to reinstall or update it through the app store.Isn't that contradicted by
Ira'sI can partly confirm: my download of a trial version of EazyDraw from the developer's site was a different (earlier) version number than the one from the Mac App Store. Hence, the App Store was technically an update and it replaced the previous version.
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As far as I can tell so far all of the installs are simple drag and drop with the addition of "authorizing" the install with the MAS.And that seems to be contradicted by
Ira'sI later bought the App Store version and when it downloaded, it replaced the developer version in the location of that application (which happened to be on the Desktop, not in another folder). I was prevented from keeping both versions.
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It might be nice to have an archive and install option, but it is easy enough to simply right click on the app and select "compress" from the context menu.True, but that requires an extra step (or two or three) that users have to remember to perform (and that's ignoring apps that write to /Library and can't be archived); I view Apple's not having built A & I into App Store.app as criminally negligent hubris.
> [i]If Apple should decide to go with the MAS as their only means of distribution Apple apps, what is wrong with that?
Aside from Hals' comment about TextWrangler (which I must assume applies to other apps as well), I guess it all comes down to clarification of how the Mac App Store actually works.
Personally, I'm running more than a handful of legacy apps simply because I do not like their "new & improved" versions for assorted reasons, and if the MAS won't facilitate that, count me out.
