According to what appears to be an internal Apple support document, users who wish to do a clean reinstall of OS X 10.7 Lion may be able to do so by pulling the operating system down over the web. In an internal support document leaked to 9to5Mac, it is detailed that users can “reinstall Lion over the Internet from Apple’s servers”. This appears to mean that users wouldn’t need to do a pre-install of Snow Leopard first and then run a Mac App Store download of Lion.
Since Lion is the first OS to be distributed exclusively over the Mac App Store, obviously there will be a few issues with a lack of OS backup disk should users have to restore their systems with a clean install of the OS. Many people had thought that they would always have to keep a Snow Leopard install disk handy so that they could reinstall OS X 10.6 to gain access to the Mac App Store. The ability to simply download Lion from Apple’s servers directly means that users can essentially bypass this requirement and, as long as there is an internet connection, install Lion from Apple’s servers directly.
Obviously, the distribution of an OS exclusively through the web requires a few adjustments on the users part but for those who still want to retain a clean Lion install package, MacRumors has posted a handy guide on how to obtain an installer package and create a backup disk for when Lion eventually ships.
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