"In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store(best mac apps) is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world."

The Mac App Store's pace pales in comparison to that of the App Store for iOS, which easily surpassed 100 million downloads in less than three months of availability back in 2008. But with a smaller user base, a smaller library of applications, more expensive average pricing, and the fact that Mac App Store(Mac tips: youtube downloader mac) is not an exclusive official distribution platform for OS X, it is unsurprising that the Mac App Store has grown more slowly than its iOS counterpart.

The Mac App Store has helped Apple push for an all-digital strategy in software distribution, allowing the company to remove disc drives from a good portion of its Mac lineup(mac related: video converter mac). The company also made the Mac App Store the preferred way for customers to upgrade to its latest operating system, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

Apple's focus with the Mac App Store has also allowed the company to discontinue boxed software at its retail stores. Customers at Apple's retail stores are now instructed to purchase their software through the Mac App Store.