With Mac OS X 10.6.6 update Apple has opened the Mac App Store. Now customers can find and install Mac applications just like the iOS App Store.

Just install Mac OS X 10.6.6 and after restart you can find the App Store icon in the dock and in the Applications folder.

You can also launch the App Store by clicking the Apple logo in the menu and choosing App Store.

When you launch the App Store you will be asked to login, you can use your existing iTunes store account or create a new Apple ID. Of course there is a Saudi Arabian Mac App Store.

In a press release Apple announced that their iLife ’11 apps are available in the App Store for $14.99 for each of the following: iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand. iWork apps are sold for $19.99 each: Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Aperture 3 is available for purchase for $79.99.

Here is Apple’s press release.

Apple’s Mac App Store Opens for Business

CUPERTINO, California—January 6, 2011—Apple® today announced that the Mac® App Store℠ is now open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. The Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard® users through Software Update as part of Mac OS® X v10.6.6.

“With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.”

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.

Entirely new apps, as well as current Mac favorites, are available from developers such as Autodesk, Ancestry.com and Boinx. iPhoto®, iMovie® and GarageBand® apps from Apple’s popular iLife® ‘11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for $14.99 each, and Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® apps from iWork® are available for $19.99 each. Aperture® 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for $79.99.

“We’re delighted to bring our professional-grade paint and drawing app, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, to the Mac App Store on its first day of launch,” said Carl Bass, Autodesk’s CEO. “We’ve seen tremendous success on the Mac, iPhone and iPad with multiple apps. We’re excited to offer SketchBook Pro on the Mac App Store so artists can easily create everything from quick sketches to high-quality artwork right on their Macs.”

“By offering the Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker app on the Mac App Store, we’re making it even easier for people to discover and access their family history,” said Tim Sullivan, Ancestry.com’s CEO. “The Mac App Store will drive a new generation of innovation on the Mac platform.”

“We’re thrilled to have our award-winning animation, video production and photography software available on the new Mac App Store,” said Oliver Breidenbach, Boinx Software’s CEO. “The Mac App Store makes it easier than ever for consumers to access all the innovative software designed for the Mac.”

To get the Mac App Store, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit www.apple.com/mac/app-store. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

Arabic version of this post on SaudiMac Arabic Edition.

Please follow SaudiMac on Twitter and add SaudiMac on Facebook.

Remember to visit We Want Apple Saudi Arabia petition and spread the word.