Apple: Shutting down app downloads facility

 Apple will pull all applications from its own Mac OS X download site on the same day that it launches the new Mac App Store early next month, according to reports.

In an e-mail sent to registered Mac developers on Monday, Ron Okamoto, Apple's head of developer relations, said that software town wasn't big enough for both the Mac App Store and the long-running Downloads.

Several sites, including Macworld, a sister publication of Computerworld, published the contents of Okamato's message.

"Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site," said Okamoto. "Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store."

The shuttering of Mac OS X Downloads may leave some developers, including several whose programs are in the site's top 10, out in the cold because of the restrictions Apple has put on App Store submissions.

A side effect of Downloads' demise will make it more difficult for users of older versions of Mac OS X to find software to download. "Apps that do not run on the currently shipping OS will be rejected," Apple's guidelines state.

When the Mac App Store launches next month, it will support only Snow Leopard, or Mac OS X 10.6, not the older Leopard (10.5) or Tiger (10.4). Several programs that appeared Monday in the top 10 on Downloads run on Tiger and/or Leopard as well as Snow Leopard.

Developers who want their software in the Mac App Store when it opens have until 5 p.m. Pacific time on Dec. 31 to submit their programs to Apple.

Via: Computerworld