I had the opportunity to talk to the head Selkie wizard about the changes in version 2.0:

What's new in V2 :

The Interface

Returning customers will notice no change to the user interface. It's common among software developers to alter the interface (Office 2007, anyone?) in an effort to persuade their customers that they can "see" the improvements as soon as they start the product.

We haven't found any reason to alter the interface. The only way the interface will be changed is if we discover ways to make it simpler and more intuitive.

The Installer

The installer is a phenomenal improvement to the method of creating your Selkie Rescue CD. The installer adds a Windows interface to the process of creating your Selkie CD. It places a folder in your start menu, which includes a CD-writing utility, the Selkie Rescue Navigator's Manual, and a quick-start guide to Selkie Rescue.

USB CD-Drive Support

In the event of a failure of a computer's on-board CD drive, Selkie Rescue can now be booted from an external USB drive. Some laptops called 'sub-notebooks', which have their CD drive in a docking station, require USB support because the drive appears to the computer as a USB device.

Compressed System Files

Selkie is designed to be a simple means for recovering data from a failed computer. Anywhere we can simplify and improve the process of booting to Selkie Rescue is where we focus our resources.

One problem our customers have brought to our attention is: poor quality Compact Discs or old CD drives can cause problems with Selkie's boot-up process. So we have compressed the system files, reducing the load placed on the drive and the CD. Users of Selkie Rescue V1 will see a dramatic improvement in start-up time and the time Selkie Rescue needs to configure its file-server. This is because Selkie Rescue spends less time spinning the CD drive to access the components it needs. It also means, a failing CD drive gets less of a workout.

Download the 16.7Mb demo (recover  from root directory only) here. Purchase it for $99.