[ricg]

The end of utility apps? What makes (used to make?) the Mac such a great platform is that apps integrate seamlessly. Making them work together in new ways that were not anticipated by the developer is incredibly powerful (Unix philosophy anyone?).

Sure, sandboxing will allow your app to talk to another app, but only if you request permission beforehand. But what if the app my app wants to intact with has not been written yet?

What about application launchers like QuickSilver, Launchbar, and all the hundreds of other utility apps?

Only allowing sandboxed apps will change the nature of apps that we will find in the app store from "utility" shifting to "just-do-one-thing".

And about the question about whether the Mac App Store will become the only way to install apps on the Mac: the question is not if, but when.

[natesm]

This has already sort of happened. Apps are forced to have some sort of permanent presence now. In the past, you could be running many of these and still have a clean menu bar. Now, you have to have an icon for Growl, an icon for Quicksilver...

[ricg]

Sure, but that's not restricting functionality. Sandboxing on the other hand will simply mean that those apps won't get into the App Store in the first place.

[natesm]

Well, it restricts my ability to have a clean menu bar. Honestly, it's the reason I haven't installed Growl from the MAS.