The v2.01 update for Galactic Civilizations II is now out.  Frogboy listed some of the notable features, improvements, and more screenshots here.

• First, the AI is better. I made changes to how the AI decides which planets to colonize and improved how they pick their research projects.  The overall "Feel" of 2.01 in terms of pacing and general fun is just much improved really in my opinion.
  
• Second, the team fixed some crashes that we had noticed.  I'm not sure what caused them but I know that they're gone now. We're not sure how they crept in there but it was certainly something that got introduced in v2.0.
  
• Another cool feature is really a set of changes to research costs and tourism that just make the game feel a bit better. It's hard to really define but long time players I think will appreciate the general maturing of the play balance.
  
• Lastly,I updated more of the game images to get rid of older images. I'll bee doing this more and more as I play so expect a v2.02 at some point in the near future. 

Players can download the update via Impulse (www.impulsedriven.com), Stardock’s digital distribution platform that enables users to purchase, download and update hundreds of different PC games and applications.

Players can get the entire Galactic Civilizations II saga at their local retail outlet or direct from Stardock at www.galciv2.com.