The , which has been running in the US for over a year, how now opened in the UK and offers software from over 130 different companies.

Software currently available for download covers a range of categories the company thinks will appeal specifically to the small and medium enterprise, including security, reporting and database management, utilities and network management tools, accounting - and so the list goes on.

Indeed, the store looks much like any other newly-built software store, so what is Intel offering that the usual software channels can't? And why would established independent software vendors (ISVs) sign up to sell through Intel when they already have many channels though which to distribute their products?

According to Intel's EMEA director of developer relations division, Wolfgang Petersen, software is still largely sold to appeal either to the single user or large corporates. Intel's BX would give smaller UK and European companies a one-stop shop to buy products specifically suitable for SMB use.

The store will also seek to undercut prices compared to rival channels. "We will compete from a pricing point of view," he said.