Apple: Thousands go on surfin' safari

Apple Computer said that more than 300,000 downloads of its new Safari browser were made in the first 24 hours it was available, a new record for the company. Apple said its prior record was 100,000 downloads for its iTunes jukebox software.

Apple also said that 20 percent of the total downloads from Apple.com on Tuesday were made using the new browser. The company said that tools in Safari are designed to make downloading easier, including automatically decoding compressed files and reducing the number of steps needed to run the newly downloaded software.