New set dialog folder verb to set the default folder for an Open or Save dialog. New set checkbox sequence verb to rapidly set a list of checkboxes in sequence. The best way to speed up a typical script is to minimize the number of discrete Apple events that are sent. Modified Player's name matching to ignore certain invisible or nonsensical characters. Enhanced most Player verbs to handle a wider variety of datatypes.
Balloon help no longer flashes in certain dialogs.
The examples we shipped with 1.0 were good, but gradually became out of date. We've revised them as needed and added many new ones. Each was designed to demonstrate one or more verbs or key ideas. All the AppleScript examples are saved as text files. You can open them even if you don't have the application they control.