It's January 6, and you know what that means: Apple has officially launched the Mac App Store. The launch came with surprisingly little fanfare from Apple, though Mac developers are another story. Everyone whose software is on the App Store at launch seems to be excited about being part of what should be a simpler place to buy Mac software, and why wouldn't they? Despite its flaws, the Mac App Store is undoubtedly going to become the go-to place for most average Mac users (I'm looking at you, Mom).

In order to get access to the Mac App Store, you must first install Mac OS X 10.6.6, also released Thursday morning. The App Store (from here on out referred to as MAS) is automatically placed in your dock upon reboot, and you can launch it right away without having to have iTunes going. Once you get inside, you can use the Apple ID that you use with iTunes to log in and start buying apps, though it's not necessary if all you want to do is browse.

The layout and UI will look instantly familiar: the Mac App Store is basically a Mac-ified version of iTunes for the iPad. That is, the layout is iTunes-like and the apps are marketed in a way that mirrors the iOS App Store, and the interface of the app itself is reminiscent of what you would find on the iPad, with simple buttons across the top for featured apps, top charts, categories, purchases, and updates.

In fact, depending on how you deal with Mac apps, you may find the store a little overwhelming at first. You can filter by category though, and those are mostly granular enough to get you to where you need to be. Alternately, if you know what you're looking for, a simple search in the top right corner will do you fine. Results will come back à la the iOS App Store—similar applications that may not exactly match what you typed in will also be listed.

As you may notice, the Mac App Store can recognize when you already have software installed that you downloaded outside the MAS—but only most of the time. For example, MAS can see that I already have the latest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand installed, but it can't see that I have any apps from Panic on my system (which I do: Coda and Transmit). The only explanation for this is that you must have the same version numbers as those that are popping up on the MAS, otherwise, it won't be able to recognize that you own the same software. And here's another downside: because you didn't buy it through the MAS, you won't be able to get updates through the MAS either (and they may not show up in the Purchased tab either; most people seem to say this is the case, though some readers say otherwise).

Another slightly annoying quirk is that the MAS acts as if it will let you rate the apps you already own (but didn't purchase through the MAS), but puts a stop to it once you actually try. Rating apps is reserved for customers who bought through the MAS. I also noticed that the ratings error message is inconsistent between apps—a very minor but strange inconsistency from a company that prides itself on the little things.

But that's enough about apps that you bought somewhere besides the MAS. Assuming you're not accidentally double-buying something you already own, the store works pretty much as you would expect, especially if you've downloaded apps through the iOS App Store. If you're using the MAS to browse, you may find yourself annoyed that there are no breadcrumbs across the top like there is in the normal version of iTunes; you just have to remember where you've been if you decide to hit the back button a few times.

You may also notice that all of your MAS purchases are automatically added to the Dock. This can be either a good or bad thing—probably bad if you like absolute control over your Dock (as most of us do), but probably good if you're the type of user who doesn't always know where to find things after you download them. One major upside is that the MAS terms appear to say that you can put your purchased software on any personal-use Mac that you own. So when you buy something once (whether it's a third-party package or Apple software), you can put it on any other Mac that belongs to you.

Another complaint that some early experimenters have had is that there's no built-in uninstall functionality within the MAS—when you install an app on your Mac, you have to get rid of it the old-fashioned way (by moving it to the trash, or by using a third-party uninstall tool) if you don't want it anymore. This isn't particularly surprising, since Apple has always left it up to you to get rid of your own apps, whether on the Mac or iOS. Still, since the major demographic for this kind of store will be largely made up of "regular" users, an uninstall option might be welcome for those who lack the technical know-how to properly dispose of an app on their own.

Finally, users with large third-party software collections will notice that not everything is currently on the MAS. Yes, there are many popular software selections available—numerous Panic apps, Twitter apps, Apple's pro apps, games, typing apps, video editors, and more are there—but there are other popular apps that aren't (yet). There's no Kindle for Mac app (though it exists elsewhere online), nor is there a Pandora app. TextMate is nowhere to be seen. There definitely isn't a VLC app, or anything you can use to get songs off your iPod, such as PodWorks.

The upside is that this will probably change over time as more developers decide to hop on MAS bandwagon. After all, even though Apple keeps 30 percent of all sales (developers don't get charged for free app downloads), the number of potential users the MAS will reach is worth the hassle. Developers can still sell their own software on their own websites, through bundles, or however else they please, so the MAS is just one more way to market their work, and possibly to a very large audience that might not otherwise happen upon it.

So, aside from all the nits that we have picked, why would an average Mac user want to use the MAS? It's a place to find (mostly) good quality software, and it's a centralized place to browse for apps you haven't even heard of yet. The discovery potential is huge, while simultaneously offering a much more organized experience than surfing the Web looking for software. The software buying (and updating) experience has now been simplified significantly, which is appealing to people who don't have the time, energy, or skills to do all of those things on their own. Because of this, people like our parents (or anyone who expresses anxiety at the prospect of installing things and "breaking" their machines) may finally be able to let their guard down when it comes to installing software.

In the coming weeks and months, we'll undoubtedly begin hearing reports from third-party developers about their trials, tribulations, and successes with the new storefront. It's likely that not everything will take off just by virtue of being on the store, but we have a feeling that developers will soon figure out the best strategy to market to their different demographics with the help of both the Web and Apple's new offering.