[Macworld]

Post your comments for Venture beyond the Mac App Store here

[gdelfino]

Two useful resource for finding Mac software are:

http://osx.iusethis.com
http://www.macupdate.com

[dmfaczan]

MacUpdate has a daily bargain, available at http://www.mupromo.com - discounts sometimes at more than 80% off. Plus, you can read other users' reviews of the daily bargain. Another is http://www.maczot.com - daily bargain, and you can sign up to win that day's bargain, sometimes without having to purchase it first. I won a $200 Web Boot Camp training package from them. I've found fantastic deals at both sites, and MacUpdate does bundles several times a year where you pay anywhere from $40 to $60 in general and get software with a total value usually 10 times or more than what you pay. Parallels and Roxio are usually in the bundles once a year. I still use the program launcher Drag Thing that I got with my first MUPromo bundle, and I needed to get Parallels so that I could connect to work and keep some of my old PC software so my investment in their software bundle really paid off.

[Droid]

You may want to add some notes about GateKeeper for people new to Macs like my sister - "Why does it ask if I want to allow this application every time I open it?"
Just keep clicking allow, like on a PC.

[JMHammer]

Quote

You may want to add some notes about GateKeeper for people new to Macs like my sister - "Why does it ask if I want to allow this application every time I open it?" Just keep clicking allow, like on a PC.

Or right-click it just once, choose Open, then add the app to the whitelist. Subsequent launches of that app will not invoke the confirmation dialogue.

[Droid]

Quote

You may want to add some notes about GateKeeper for people new to Macs like my sister - "Why does it ask if I want to allow this application every time I open it?" Just keep clicking allow, like on a PC. Or right-click it just once, choose Open, then add the app to the whitelist. Subsequent launches of that app will not invoke the confirmation dialogue.

Yep, that would be helpful to be covered in this article.

[bgrasman]

In many cases, when you buy an application in a dmg file or on a physical disc, you will see icons for both the application itself and an application folder.

That application folder is actually an alias for your application folder. You don't have to open your application folder from the finder; just drag the application icon to that alias of your folder. Done!

[talmy]

How quickly one forgets how easy it is to obtain/buy software outside the Mac App store!

One important point, no matter how you get the software, is to make a backup copy of the distribution and any access keys in case you lose it. This even applies to the Mac App store -- Apple does not guarantee that you will be able to download your purchases in the future (and indeed, I've had it happen with some that I couldn't, even Apple's own applications!).

[adv123]

"The Mac App Store is great for the majority of simple applications you might want to purchase."

Actually, the Mac App Store is HORRIBLE for the majority of simple applications you might want to purchase, firstly because many of them aren't on the App Store in the first place due to the sandboxing restrictions, the lack of a paid upgrade system, and other things that cripple apps and keep developers from making a living from them, and secondly because its browsing search facilities are simply not geared toward finding the best app in a given category.

[gazzerbee]

Quote

Actually, the Mac App Store is HORRIBLE

Just that bit sums it up for me.

What I hate is the idea that you are force fed updates, can you go back to a previous version of an individual app if a new version sucks ?

Very few apps give trial versions and I understand you can't change your icons to personalise them ?

[machacks]

My Top 6 places to look

1. MacUpdate, hands down is best place to find apps. I recommend buying there update app.
2. Hackstore -"For Tweaks & Utilities that are not allowed on M.A.S. due to sandbox" - http://www.hack-store.com
3. Sourceforge "Find Open Source Apps" - http://sourceforge.net/
4. Mac App Store - "Should Be crap Store"
5. Bodega - " Original Mac App Store , I like it back in day, I no longer use app" - http://appbodega.com/
6. CNet - "I hardly ever look at CNet for Mac Apps, it's basically same as MacUpdate." http://download.cnet.com/mac/

[Cormac]

I only use the (Mac) App Store only if that is the ONLY way to get the application that I want. Otherwise, I go to the developer's website and buy there.

[AtRandom]

The App Store in it's present setup is absolute junk if you need more then one of anything across a Corporation or University. It's one of the worst developed and implemented Apple application ever released and it's the only way to get many updates. The OS is hardly the place to be experimenting with a radical change to how you obtain software without making it bulletproof for users that don't just use iPads and iPhones.