A guide to Mac OS X software at Apple.com appears to have become defunct, according to a report in The Unofficial Apple Weblog.
The last update at the Apple downloads page was made March 26, according to the report, which also said that developers who submitted apps for listing in the database have gotten no response.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog also reported that last month the downloads page was no longer linked from the navigation bar at the top of Apple's web site. That particular tab had been replaced with an iPad tab, they said. It wasn't gone, just less visible.
Now it's visible, but apparently less useful.
Sites like CNET's Versiontracker and MacUpdate also keep track of the latest downloads for Mac OS X apps, and if our memory serves, their services have been around longer than Apple's downloads page.
The Apple Downloads page is not the only Apple-owned resource cataloging Mac apps to go by the wayside. Last year, Dennis Sellers reported for Macsimum News that the URL for the Macintosh Products Guide, a database that had been around since before the turn of this century, had been redirected to the Apple downloads site.
macdesertrat
April 21, 2010 at 10:23pm
I went to apple.com/support and clicked on the downloads, then clicked on "View all support downloads". A new downloads page appears. Check it out here: http://www.apple.com/support/
echodot
April 21, 2010 at 10:50am
This is a big set-back for developers. As a widget creator, 90%+ of my downloads have originated from Apple's download page and I rely on that page to get the word out. Since a link to the downloads page is hard-coded into two parts of the OS (Apple Menu:Mac OS X Software, and Dashboard:More Widgets), I have a hard time believing it's gone for good, but since I submitted my new widget two weeks ago and Apple still hasn't posted it, I've got to wonder what is going on.
