Apple claims one million downloads for Mac OS X Lion on first day of release

Apple claims to have sold more than a million copies of its OS X Lion operating system on its first day of availability, making it the fastest selling OS update in Apple's history.

"Lion is off to a great start. User reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic," said Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller.

"Lion is a huge step forward. It's not only packed with innovative features but it's incredibly easy for users to update their Macs to the best OS we've ever made."

The release of Lion on Wednesday also marked the first time Apple has offered an OS update through its Mac App Store service. The 3.74GB file is available as a $30 download to Mac users running the most recent version of OS X Snow Leopard.

Lion is influenced by the iOS mobile platform, and allows Mac users to control systems using multi-touch gestures similar to those supported by the iPad and iPhone. The OS was first unveiled in May at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference.

Apple estimates that Lion brings some 250 new features to the Macintosh platform, including support for full-screen applications and new visual presentation options through the Expose and Faces features.