Amazon opens Mac download stores

Despite being in the middle of litigation with Apple over the use of the term 'App-store' for its mobile application store, Amazon has unveiled two digital downloads stores for Mac software, reports Cnet.

The new stores cover games and applications. Altogether, Amazon's got 252 pieces of software up for sale, the majority of which are applications versus game titles.

According to The Register, the new Mac download store already has one major application suite that can't be found on Apple's Mac App Store: Microsoft Office for the Mac 2011.

Meanwhile, ZDNet reveals, that's just like Apple's Mac app-store, which is how the company sells its own and third-party Mac software, Amazon users can re-download applications if they somehow misplace the file.

However, unlike Apple's offering, there is no mechanism to keep applications up to date - something Amazon has left up to software makers.

Some applications are also bundled with DRM or serial number authentication, the latter of which is not a concern on the Mac App Store.