For everyone who didn't notice, Mapwing got updated today. The breakdown of the versions is as follows:

• Mapwing Creator 1.0 - $39
• Mapwing Creator Pro 1.6 - $295
• Mapwing Viewer 1.6 (Mac & Win) - Free

These updates represent some pretty big changes to Mapwing. First, Mapwing Creator brings virtual tour creation at a shareware price - $39. Tours include the standard easy-to-use Mapwing design: photos, comments, maps, and points. Tours can even be exported to Adobe's Flash. Go here to learn more about Mapwing Creator.

While I'm talking about Flash, let me say a few things about our new export to Flash options. In previous version of Mapwing, Flash tours required Web space and PHP support. Now, they require neither. You can export directly to a Flash-powered tour that can run locally or server-side. All a user needs is Adobe's Flash Player 7 (or above) and a Web browser to view the tour. Click here to download an example.

Users can also link directly to points within new Flash-powered Mapwing tours. To do this, simply go to a location and right-click on a Mapwing Flash tour. Then, select Link To This Point from the pop-up menu. This will reload the Mapwing tour. You will find the URL to the tour, point, view, and zoom level at the top of your Web browser. Click here to go directly to a place in a tour.

Mapwing Creator Pro has also received several enhancements. First, it has a new single-window GUI and is a Universal Binary (for Intel Mac compatibility). Second, you can add a custom brand to Flash tours when they load. Finally, Pro adds a new type of hotspot that can connect together tour files. This makes it very easy to build large-scale tours. Go here to learn more about Mapwing Creator Pro.