http://www.spitfireaudio.com/albion.html
 
the latest free update to V5 REDUX 8/22/2013
 
NEW CONTENT FOR THIS REDUX VERSION INCLUDES: 
• “BAKED ENSEMBLES” – We have slavishly re-mixed the entire orchestral range into “full” ensembles for use with both hands. These not only save time on quickly sketching but also cut CPU use by up to 30% compared to using multis versions. Great to add warmth and depth to your intricate but also demanding Sable arrangements. 
• “STEPHENSON’S REDUX” – Derived from wholly newly created samples (cut from the original Albion orchestral sessions). Here is a large ultra-cool bank of Pads, Drones, and Soundscapes. Created by crack team of in-demand professionals in London. 
• “BRUNEL LOOPS” – A selection of new curiosities to tickle your fancy. 
• “DARWIN WIPES” – All new thunderous transitions derived from the epic Darwin percussion sessions. 
• ALL NEW “OSTINATUM” PRESET PATTERNS – Over 100 Carefully hewn and polished, inspiring, contemporary and incredibly musical Ostinatum patterns. Created by award winning film composers designed to give you what you need out of the box. From instant cinematic tension beds, to shimmering measured tremolo effects, to intricate systems patterns with cross rhythms that could help you weave a contrapuntal canopy of cool. Use these patterns on any Spitfire products with the Ostinatum function.
 
-------------------------------------------/
Albion V4 

Changes: 
Brings Albion in line with Spitfire Audio's latest releases including:

• Unified patches to bring all articulations of an instrument into a single NKI with keyswitching
• New 'Combined' patches to merge Lo/Hi sections instead of cumbersome MULTIS
• New 'Time Machine' patches to stretch/squash the short samples time-wise.
• New 'Overlay' patches to easily blend Albion with Loegria/Iceni/Sable/Solo Strings
• New 'The Cog' patches to tweak the instrument on a granular level to your preference
• The latest version of Spitfire's Ostinatum machine (configurable keyswitches, multiple tracks, etc.)
• Highly configurable articulation mapping (assign and group articulations to notes, CCs, velocities and MIDI channels)
• Customisable CC can be used to quickly change articulation (defaults to CC32)
• Expression control added to all patches
• ADSR control added to the Stephenson/Brunel patches
• Route a microphone's output by clicking the mic title
• Improved Round Robin reset options such as 'Reset from' and 'Reset on transport'
• 'Presets' allows you to quickly purge/unpurge articulations defined for various situations.
• Holding alt when dragging a mic slider prevents purge/unpurge

And many many more tweaks and fixes"

This looks like an awesome update Carl. You've got to love Spitfire. They give you your money's worth and more. I'm still waiting for the update link.

I got it a few hours ago & really like the new features.
Here's an install vid to check out in the meantime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm6YwXaThig

Also from the email:
PLEASE NOTE -- IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THE v3 PATCHES THEN YOU SHOULD NOT DELETE THE OLD Albion.nkr SCRIPT FILES!!!

I see nothing that is PC related, so I presume it's the same exact drag and drop install all around. And another upcoming video on articulation mapping is mentioned as well. This is all good.

Yes, it's the same for PC.

Great news from Spitfire, another free update- Albion to V5 REDUX
 
NEW CONTENT FOR THIS REDUX VERSION INCLUDES: 
• “BAKED ENSEMBLES” – We have slavishly re-mixed the entire orchestral range into “full” ensembles for use with both hands. These not only save time on quickly sketching but also cut CPU use by up to 30% compared to using multis versions. Great to add warmth and depth to your intricate but also demanding Sable arrangements. 
• “STEPHENSON’S REDUX” – Derived from wholly newly created samples (cut from the original Albion orchestral sessions). Here is a large ultra-cool bank of Pads, Drones, and Soundscapes. Created by crack team of in-demand professionals in London. 
• “BRUNEL LOOPS” – A selection of new curiosities to tickle your fancy. 
• “DARWIN WIPES” – All new thunderous transitions derived from the epic Darwin percussion sessions. 
• ALL NEW “OSTINATUM” PRESET PATTERNS – Over 100 Carefully hewn and polished, inspiring, contemporary and incredibly musical Ostinatum patterns. Created by award winning film composers designed to give you what you need out of the box. From instant cinematic tension beds, to shimmering measured tremolo effects, to intricate systems patterns with cross rhythms that could help you weave a contrapuntal canopy of cool. Use these patterns on any Spitfire products with the Ostinatum function. 
 
watch update instructions here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFG8o01D1Rc
http://www.spitfireaudio.com/albion.html

Hm, I just posted a question to Spitfire Audio but I might as well ask it here too. ;) I own the very first version of Albion and never updated it. I reinstalled my PC recently and want to reinstall Albion now AND update it to v5. I wonder of this new v5 update is incremental or cumulative...? In other words: do I have to install the original version of Albion and then install ALL previous updates or can I install the original version of Albion and simply only install the v5 update?
 
Another question: do I actually need the Connect software...? I already have the original Albion extracted and all: I only have to add it to Kontakt and I am good to go afaik. I downloaded the v5 update manually so it seems to me I can simply extract all the files and copy them to the Albion folder and that's it... right? The mail I received for the manual download links says I have to use Connect and press a button to change the Download button into an Install button... but it seems I can install it manually too...
 
I have to say the given information is a bit sparse and not too clear.
 
BTW What exactly does 'redux' stand for...? 

This update is about 6Gb of new samples so I'm sure you'll need the others samples as well. ( IIRC around 20gb total?)
Use the Continuata Connect software to download & extract your files. You'll need to use that as it requires your serial number before you can dl the files. Then watch the video link I gave to help explain installation.

My set up contains each version & is rather confusing to explain. I have separate instrument folders for each of the updated versions 1-5.
I've kept them all because there were some presets (.nki) I really liked (e.g. tbone+horns) that aren't present in all the updates. But IIRC I had to rename some of nkr files along the way.

Also if you want the Ostinatum presets to appear automatically place them in a new folder in docs:
PC: My Documents/Albion/Data

REDUX = brought back. I think of it as 'RE-DO'.

Thanks for the reply but the question was if I need to install ALL possible upgrades (v2, v3, v4, v5) over a fresh Albion v1 install (as if the v5 upgrade was incremental) of do I only have to install the v5 upgrade over a fresh Albion v1 install (as if the v5 upgrade was cumulative).
 
It's obvious that I need at least the original version, which is what your answer was. ;)
 
And btw I don't need Connect to download the upgrade because I downloaded it manually (for which I had to enter the serial number on a site that was mailed to me).
 
In the meantime Spitfire replied to the question if I need Connect to install by saying that it is possible to install the upgrade manually (as is shown in the video) but that using Connect is easier. But imho the manual install is pretty simple. However, unfortunately they completely forgot to answer my main and first question about v5 being incremental or cumulative... Hopefully they also read their mails in the weekend otherwise I will have to wait until monday. ;) Unless someone here can give me the answer, of course.

If you don't want the various patches from previous updates & being that it's the REDUX release chances are you'll only need the main set of samples.
I would just install it then, is not that complicated.