Google announced the opening of the long-awaited Chrome Web Store today. The store was first announced at Google I/O earlier this year.

A developer preview was made available in August, so developers could upload apps and experiment with packaging, installing, and integrating payments into them. Now the rest of us get to see the fruits of this project.

In September, it was revealed that any developers who wanted to use Chrome Web Store Payments would be required to have Google Checkout accounts, so the store may provide a huge boost for Google’s payments platform.

Google will start featuring the store prominently in the new tab page in Chrome. The goal, the company says, is to make sure developers can reach users of their apps more than they can with any other app store.

The store is rolling out today at chrome.google.com/webstore. It features 500 apps right off the bat, and that will no doubt grow quickly. Stay tuned for more on Chrome OS – Google’s new operating system.