Head to Head: Intel AppUp vs Apple Mac App Store

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Head to Head: Intel AppUp vs Apple Mac App Store

The Featured page in the Mac App Store

The categories in the Mac App Store

Search results in the Mac App Store with the Store's Dock icon badge visible

If you attempt to open a document for which you don't have the right app, MacOS X 10.6.6 offers to search the Mac App Store f

The home screen of Intel AppUp

The categories in Intel AppUp

Search results in Intel AppUp

Head-to-Head: Mac App Store vs Intel AppUp

The roaring commercial success of Apple's App Store on the iPhone (as well as the other iOS devices, the iPod Touch and the iPad) has prompted its rivals to come out with app stores for their own smartphones and tablets. It's therefore not surprising that there are now app stores for desktop operating systems too.

AppUp from Intel is an app store designed specifically for netbooks equipped with Intel Atom processors, although it will work with any Windows computer. It can be downloaded for free from www.appup.com. It's also pre-installed on an increasing number of new netbooks, such as the Acer Aspire One.

The Mac App Store from Apple runs only on Macs with an Intel processor and the latest version of the Mac operating system, MacOS X 10.6.6. It will come pre-installed on all new Macs from now on.

This comparison of the two is therefore different from the other reviews and Head-to-Head comparisons here on ITPRO. Instead of recommending one store over the other, we'll see what Intel and Apple could learn from each other and what implications these app stores have for IT in the enterprise.