Windows users, don't you wish there was a vendor-agnostic, one-stop shop for downloadable software? Something with easily browsable categories, ratings, reviews and simple purchase options?

Several companies are trying to make an Apple App Store-like software shop for Windows. Yesterday we noted the launch of Pokki, a store that puts mobile-style applets on the PC desktop. Avenue is a user friendly, lightning fast and immediately available option for fully functioning Windows apps.

The Avenue App Store from Nevolution gives Windows users a simple way to find and download Windows-compatible desktop applications. Users can browse apps by popularity or by category, and Avenue also shows featured and new apps.

Right now, the store includes categories for games, communication apps, reference tools, utilities, multimedia and entertainment apps, and more.

"While there are plenty of websites that allow Windows PC users to download software, most target only a specific niche user or are filled with unscreened and unlicensed software," said Nevolution CEO Matt Smith in a statement.

"Avenue is the first centralized marketplace for all kinds of Windows PC software that's safe and on par with the app stores that exist for Mac and mobile users."

It's also easy to find a ton of free apps using Avenue; in fact, all the apps we currently see in the store are free. We're hoping to see more paid software soon, though. It would be great to grab packages for Photoshop, anitvirus software and a screencap recording app all at once, for example.

How the Avenue Windows App Store Works

When you find the apps you want, you can click to download them immediately, add them to your wishlist or add them to your shopping cart.

One thing we love about the Avenue app store is the ease of shopping for and downloading multiple apps with relatively few clicks. Right now, you can add many apps from different publishers to your cart, then click once to download them all.

Better still, your Avenue user account will work across multiple PCs, so your apps will be ready and waiting for download and installation when you log in from a new computer.

One issue is that the number of apps included in the store is on the low side, but we expect to see that number rise as the Avenue ecosystem matures.