Today marks the launch of Apple’s latest PC-based venture – the Mac App Store. Announced in October, Apple aims to streamline and simplify the delivery of applications with a service that hopes to mimic the success of the iPhone’s App Store.

Mac owners will receive the new marketplace when they download the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update for the Snow Leopard operating system that was also released today. It is then possible to peruse the App Store’s offerings, with several categories to choose from containing both free and paid applications.

Each downloadable item can be reviewed, rated and previewed via the screenshots provided. Apple have strived to make the Mac App Store as easy as possible to operate with their simplified install process.

Users simply choose an application they like, input their iTunes password and the app is downloaded and added to the dock. All updates and new versions of installed applications will then be automatically updated by the Mac App Store. Apple have also promised that once you’ve bought an application then subsequent re-downloads (say if you bought a new Mac) are included.

App stores are the hot thing right now, with Google’s cloud-embracing Chrome Web Store being launched just before Christmas and the Android Market getting a lick of paint shortly afterwards. Only time will tell what developers and (more importantly) Mac users will make of Apple’s latest outlet.

Have you tried the Mac App Store yet? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.