diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index d4cab45cd..0fc7dad50 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ build_script:
   - "%CMD_IN_ENV% python bin/init_model.py en lang_data/ corpora/ data"
   - "cp package.json data"
   - "%CMD_IN_ENV% sputnik build data en_default.sputnik"
-  - "%CMD_IN_ENV% sputnik install en_default.sputnik"
+  - "%CMD_IN_ENV% sputnik --name spacy install en_default.sputnik"
 
 test_script:
   # Run the project tests
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b6c2a430e..e89dd19e4 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ install:
   - "python bin/init_model.py en lang_data/ corpora/ data"
   - "cp package.json data"
   - "sputnik build data en_default.sputnik"
-  - "sputnik install en_default.sputnik"
+  - "sputnik --name spacy install en_default.sputnik"
 
 script:
   - python build.py $MODE;
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0710031ed..aab453cbd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,17 +1,14 @@
 {
-    "name": "en_default",
-    "version": "0.100.0",
-    "description": "english default model",
+    "name": "en_test",
+    "version": "1.0.0",
+    "description": "english test model",
     "license": "public domain",
     "include": [
-        "deps/*",
-        "ner/*",
-        "pos/*",
-        "tokenizer/*",
-        "vocab/*",
-        "wordnet/*"
-    ],
-    "compatibility": {
-        "spacy": "==0.100.0"
-    }
+        ["deps", "*"],
+        ["ner", "*"],
+        ["pos", "*"],
+        ["tokenizer", "*"],
+        ["vocab", "*"],
+        ["wordnet", "*"]
+    ]
 }
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 756d3bbb2..b43a48752 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ plac
 six
 ujson
 cloudpickle
-sputnik==0.7.*
+sputnik>=0.7.0,<0.8.0
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 488885d72..ce189985b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
-from __future__ import division, print_function
+from __future__ import print_function
 import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
@@ -14,13 +14,6 @@ except ImportError:
     from distutils.core import Extension, setup
 
 
-MAJOR      = 0
-MINOR      = 100
-MICRO      = 0
-ISRELEASED = False
-VERSION    = '%d.%d.%d' % (MAJOR, MINOR, MICRO)
-
-
 PACKAGES = [
     'spacy',
     'spacy.tokens',
@@ -103,73 +96,6 @@ class build_ext_subclass(build_ext, build_ext_options):
         build_ext.build_extensions(self)
 
 
-# Return the git revision as a string
-def git_version():
-    def _minimal_ext_cmd(cmd):
-        # construct minimal environment
-        env = {}
-        for k in ['SYSTEMROOT', 'PATH']:
-            v = os.environ.get(k)
-            if v is not None:
-                env[k] = v
-        # LANGUAGE is used on win32
-        env['LANGUAGE'] = 'C'
-        env['LANG'] = 'C'
-        env['LC_ALL'] = 'C'
-        out = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout = subprocess.PIPE, env=env).communicate()[0]
-        return out
-
-    try:
-        out = _minimal_ext_cmd(['git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'])
-        GIT_REVISION = out.strip().decode('ascii')
-    except OSError:
-        GIT_REVISION = 'Unknown'
-
-    return GIT_REVISION
-
-
-def get_version_info():
-    # Adding the git rev number needs to be done inside write_version_py(),
-    # otherwise the import of spacy.about messes up the build under Python 3.
-    FULLVERSION = VERSION
-    if os.path.exists('.git'):
-        GIT_REVISION = git_version()
-    elif os.path.exists(os.path.join('spacy', 'about.py')):
-        # must be a source distribution, use existing version file
-        try:
-            from spacy.about import git_revision as GIT_REVISION
-        except ImportError:
-            raise ImportError('Unable to import git_revision. Try removing '
-                              'spacy/about.py and the build directory '
-                              'before building.')
-    else:
-        GIT_REVISION = 'Unknown'
-
-    if not ISRELEASED:
-        FULLVERSION += '.dev0+' + GIT_REVISION[:7]
-
-    return FULLVERSION, GIT_REVISION
-
-
-def write_version(path):
-    cnt = """# THIS FILE IS GENERATED FROM SPACY SETUP.PY
-short_version = '%(version)s'
-version = '%(version)s'
-full_version = '%(full_version)s'
-git_revision = '%(git_revision)s'
-release = %(isrelease)s
-if not release:
-    version = full_version
-"""
-    FULLVERSION, GIT_REVISION = get_version_info()
-
-    with open(path, 'w') as f:
-        f.write(cnt % {'version': VERSION,
-                       'full_version' : FULLVERSION,
-                       'git_revision' : GIT_REVISION,
-                       'isrelease': str(ISRELEASED)})
-
-
 def generate_cython(root, source):
     print('Cythonizing sources')
     p = subprocess.call([sys.executable,
@@ -241,7 +167,9 @@ def setup_package():
         return clean(root)
 
     with chdir(root):
-        write_version(os.path.join(root, 'spacy', 'about.py'))
+        about = {}
+        with open(os.path.join(root, "spacy", "about.py")) as f:
+            exec(f.read(), about)
 
         include_dirs = [
             get_python_inc(plat_specific=True),
@@ -259,19 +187,20 @@ def setup_package():
             prepare_includes(root)
 
         setup(
-            name='spacy',
+            name=about['__name__'],
+            zip_safe=False,
             packages=PACKAGES,
             package_data={'': ['*.pyx', '*.pxd']},
-            description='Industrial-strength NLP',
-            author='Matthew Honnibal',
-            author_email='matt@spacy.io',
-            version=VERSION,
-            url='https://spacy.io',
-            license='MIT',
+            description=about['__summary__'],
+            author=about['__author__'],
+            author_email=about['__email__'],
+            version=about['__version__'],
+            url=about['__uri__'],
+            license=about['__license__'],
             ext_modules=ext_modules,
             install_requires=['numpy', 'murmurhash>=0.26,<0.27', 'cymem>=1.30,<1.31', 'preshed>=0.46.1,<0.47',
                               'thinc>=4.2.0,<4.3.0', 'text_unidecode', 'plac', 'six',
-                              'ujson', 'cloudpickle', 'sputnik>=0.6.4,<0.7.0'],
+                              'ujson', 'cloudpickle', 'sputnik>=0.7.0,<0.8.0'],
             cmdclass = {
                 'build_ext': build_ext_subclass},
         )
diff --git a/spacy/__init__.py b/spacy/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..556027a42 100644
--- a/spacy/__init__.py
+++ b/spacy/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+from . import util
+from .en import English
+
+
+def load(name, via=None):
+    package = util.get_package_by_name(name, via=via)
+    return English(package=package)
diff --git a/spacy/about.py b/spacy/about.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ad68f5ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spacy/about.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# inspired from:
+
+# https://python-packaging-user-guide.readthedocs.org/en/latest/single_source_version/
+# https://github.com/pypa/warehouse/blob/master/warehouse/__about__.py
+
+__name__ = 'spacy'
+__version__ = '0.100.0'
+__summary__ = 'Industrial-strength NLP'
+__uri__ = 'https://spacy.io'
+__author__ = 'Matthew Honnibal'
+__email__ = 'matt@spacy.io'
+__license__ = 'MIT'
+__release__ = False
+__default_model__ = 'en_default==1.0.4'
diff --git a/spacy/en/download.py b/spacy/en/download.py
index f91b44601..ae1e62e44 100644
--- a/spacy/en/download.py
+++ b/spacy/en/download.py
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
+from __future__ import print_function
+
 import sys
 import os
 import shutil
 
 import plac
-from sputnik import Sputnik
+import sputnik
+from sputnik.package_list import (PackageNotFoundException,
+                                  CompatiblePackageNotFoundException)
+
+from .. import about
 
 
 def migrate(path):
@@ -18,43 +24,34 @@ def migrate(path):
             os.unlink(os.path.join(path, filename))
 
 
-def link(package, path):
-    if os.path.exists(path):
-        if os.path.isdir(path):
-            shutil.rmtree(path)
-        else:
-            os.unlink(path)
-
-    if not hasattr(os, 'symlink'):  # not supported by win+py27
-        shutil.copytree(package.dir_path('data'), path)
-    else:
-        os.symlink(package.dir_path('data'), path)
-
-
 @plac.annotations(
     force=("Force overwrite", "flag", "f", bool),
 )
 def main(data_size='all', force=False):
-    # TODO read version from the same source as the setup
-    sputnik = Sputnik('spacy', '0.100.0', console=sys.stdout)
-
-    path = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-
-    data_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(path, '..', 'data'))
-    if not os.path.isdir(data_path):
-        os.mkdir(data_path)
-
-    command = sputnik.command(
-        data_path=data_path,
-        repository_url='https://index.spacy.io')
-
     if force:
-        command.purge()
+        sputnik.purge(about.__name__, about.__version__)
 
-    package = command.install('en_default')
+    try:
+        sputnik.package(about.__name__, about.__version__, about.__default_model__)
+        print("Model already installed. Please run 'python -m "
+              "spacy.en.download --force' to reinstall.", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+    except (PackageNotFoundException, CompatiblePackageNotFoundException):
+        pass
+
+    package = sputnik.install(about.__name__, about.__version__, about.__default_model__)
+
+    try:
+        sputnik.package(about.__name__, about.__version__, about.__default_model__)
+    except (PackageNotFoundException, CompatiblePackageNotFoundException):
+        print("Model failed to install. Please run 'python -m "
+              "spacy.en.download --force'.", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
 
     # FIXME clean up old-style packages
-    migrate(path)
+    migrate(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+
+    print("Model successfully installed.", file=sys.stderr)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/spacy/language.py b/spacy/language.py
index c992335b3..8efcc618e 100644
--- a/spacy/language.py
+++ b/spacy/language.py
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ from . import orth
 from .syntax.ner import BiluoPushDown
 from .syntax.arc_eager import ArcEager
 
+from . import util
 from .attrs import TAG, DEP, ENT_IOB, ENT_TYPE, HEAD
-from .util import get_package
 
 
 class Language(object):
@@ -137,28 +137,25 @@ class Language(object):
         return {0: {'PER': True, 'LOC': True, 'ORG': True, 'MISC': True}}
 
     @classmethod
-    def default_vocab(cls, package=None, get_lex_attr=None):
-        if package is None:
-            package = get_package()
+    def default_vocab(cls, package, get_lex_attr=None):
         if get_lex_attr is None:
             get_lex_attr = cls.default_lex_attrs()
         return Vocab.from_package(package, get_lex_attr=get_lex_attr)
 
     @classmethod
     def default_parser(cls, package, vocab):
-        data_dir = package.dir_path('deps', require=False)
+        data_dir = package.dir_path('deps')
         if data_dir and path.exists(data_dir):
             return Parser.from_dir(data_dir, vocab.strings, ArcEager)
 
     @classmethod
     def default_entity(cls, package, vocab):
-        data_dir = package.dir_path('ner', require=False)
+        data_dir = package.dir_path('ner')
         if data_dir and path.exists(data_dir):
             return Parser.from_dir(data_dir, vocab.strings, BiluoPushDown)
 
     def __init__(self,
         data_dir=None,
-        model=None,
         vocab=None,
         tokenizer=None,
         tagger=None,
@@ -166,48 +163,36 @@ class Language(object):
         entity=None,
         matcher=None,
         serializer=None,
-        load_vectors=True):
+        load_vectors=True,
+        package=None):
         """
            a model can be specified:
 
-           1) by a path to the model directory (DEPRECATED)
-             - Language(data_dir='path/to/data')
+           1) by calling a Language subclass
+             - spacy.en.English()
 
-           2) by a language identifier (and optionally a package root dir)
-             - Language(lang='en')
-             - Language(lang='en', data_dir='spacy/data')
+           2) by calling a Language subclass with data_dir
+             - spacy.en.English('my/model/root')
+             - spacy.en.English(data_dir='my/model/root')
 
-           3) by a model name/version (and optionally a package root dir)
-             - Language(model='en_default')
-             - Language(model='en_default ==1.0.0')
-             - Language(model='en_default <1.1.0, data_dir='spacy/data')
+           3) by package name
+             - spacy.load('en_default')
+             - spacy.load('en_default==1.0.0')
+
+           4) by package name with a relocated package base
+             - spacy.load('en_default', via='/my/package/root')
+             - spacy.load('en_default==1.0.0', via='/my/package/root')
         """
-        # support non-package data dirs
-        if data_dir and path.exists(path.join(data_dir, 'vocab')):
-            class Package(object):
-                def __init__(self, root):
-                    self.root = root
 
-                def has_file(self, *path_parts):
-                    return path.exists(path.join(self.root, *path_parts))
+        if package is None:
+            if data_dir is None:
+                package = util.get_package_by_name()
+            else:
+                package = util.get_package(data_dir)
 
-                def file_path(self, *path_parts, **kwargs):
-                    return path.join(self.root, *path_parts)
-
-                def dir_path(self, *path_parts, **kwargs):
-                    return path.join(self.root, *path_parts)
-
-                def load_utf8(self, func, *path_parts, **kwargs):
-                    with io.open(self.file_path(path.join(*path_parts)),
-                                 mode='r', encoding='utf8') as f:
-                        return func(f)
-
-            warn("using non-package data_dir", DeprecationWarning)
-            package = Package(data_dir)
-        else:
-            package = get_package(name=model, data_path=data_dir)
         if load_vectors is not True:
             warn("load_vectors is deprecated", DeprecationWarning)
+
         if vocab in (None, True):
             vocab = self.default_vocab(package)
         self.vocab = vocab
@@ -230,7 +215,6 @@ class Language(object):
     def __reduce__(self):
         args = (
             None, # data_dir
-            None, # model
             self.vocab,
             self.tokenizer,
             self.tagger,
diff --git a/spacy/lemmatizer.py b/spacy/lemmatizer.py
index c5b9c1c50..a05ca49c0 100644
--- a/spacy/lemmatizer.py
+++ b/spacy/lemmatizer.py
@@ -8,25 +8,24 @@ except ImportError:
     import json
 
 from .parts_of_speech import NOUN, VERB, ADJ, PUNCT
+from .util import get_package
 
 
 class Lemmatizer(object):
     @classmethod
-    def from_package(cls, package):
+    def load(cls, via):
+        return cls.from_package(get_package(via))
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_package(cls, pkg):
         index = {}
         exc = {}
         for pos in ['adj', 'noun', 'verb']:
-            index[pos] = package.load_utf8(read_index,
-                'wordnet', 'index.%s' % pos,
-                default=set())  # TODO: really optional?
-            exc[pos] = package.load_utf8(read_exc,
-                'wordnet', '%s.exc' % pos,
-                default={})  # TODO: really optional?
-
-        rules = package.load_utf8(json.load,
-            'vocab', 'lemma_rules.json',
-            default={})  # TODO: really optional?
-
+            with pkg.open(('wordnet', 'index.%s' % pos), default=None) as file_:
+                index[pos] = read_index(file_) if file_ is not None else set()
+            with pkg.open(('wordnet', '%s.exc' % pos), default=None) as file_:
+                exc[pos] = read_exc(file_) if file_ is not None else {}
+        rules = pkg.load_json(('vocab', 'lemma_rules.json'), default={})
         return cls(index, exc, rules)
 
     def __init__(self, index, exceptions, rules):
diff --git a/spacy/matcher.pyx b/spacy/matcher.pyx
index 4d36b7742..cef98c068 100644
--- a/spacy/matcher.pyx
+++ b/spacy/matcher.pyx
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from .tokens.doc cimport Doc
 from .vocab cimport Vocab
 
 from .attrs import FLAG61 as U_ENT
+from .util import get_package
 
 from .attrs import FLAG60 as B2_ENT
 from .attrs import FLAG59 as B3_ENT
@@ -168,11 +169,13 @@ cdef class Matcher:
     cdef readonly Vocab vocab
     cdef object _patterns
 
+    @classmethod
+    def load(cls, data_dir, Vocab vocab):
+        return cls.from_package(get_package(data_dir), vocab=vocab)
+
     @classmethod
     def from_package(cls, package, Vocab vocab):
-        patterns = package.load_utf8(json.load,
-            'vocab', 'gazetteer.json',
-            default={})  # TODO: really optional?
+        patterns = package.load_json(('vocab', 'gazetteer.json'))
         return cls(vocab, patterns)
 
     def __init__(self, vocab, patterns):
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/parser.pyx b/spacy/syntax/parser.pyx
index 7f89a505c..bcc0d7737 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/parser.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/parser.pyx
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ cdef class Parser:
             model.load(path.join(model_dir, 'model'))
         return cls(strings, moves, model)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def load(cls, pkg_or_str_or_file, vocab):
+        # TODO
+        raise NotImplementedError(
+                "This should be here, but isn't yet =/. Use Parser.from_dir")
+
+
     def __reduce__(self):
         return (Parser, (self.moves.strings, self.moves, self.model), None, None)
 
diff --git a/spacy/tagger.pyx b/spacy/tagger.pyx
index 2c05b4a84..493cc4f99 100644
--- a/spacy/tagger.pyx
+++ b/spacy/tagger.pyx
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ from .parts_of_speech cimport VERB, X, PUNCT, EOL, SPACE
 
 from .attrs cimport *
 
+from .util import get_package
+
  
 cpdef enum:
     P2_orth
@@ -146,7 +148,11 @@ cdef class Tagger:
         return cls(vocab, model)
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_package(cls, package, vocab):
+    def load(cls, data_dir, vocab):
+        return cls.from_package(get_package(data_dir), vocab=vocab)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_package(cls, pkg, vocab):
         # TODO: templates.json deprecated? not present in latest package
         templates = cls.default_templates()
         # templates = package.load_utf8(json.load,
@@ -156,8 +162,9 @@ cdef class Tagger:
         model = TaggerModel(vocab.morphology.n_tags,
             ConjunctionExtracter(N_CONTEXT_FIELDS, templates))
 
-        if package.has_file('pos', 'model'):  # TODO: really optional?
-            model.load(package.file_path('pos', 'model'))
+
+        if pkg.has_file('pos', 'model'):  # TODO: really optional?
+            model.load(pkg.file_path('pos', 'model'))
 
         return cls(vocab, model)
 
diff --git a/spacy/tests/conftest.py b/spacy/tests/conftest.py
index 03e728a12..83a39a03a 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/conftest.py
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 from spacy.en import English
 
 import pytest
+import os
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def EN():
-    return English()
+    if os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA'):
+        data_dir = os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA')
+    else:
+        data_dir = None
+    print("Load EN from %s" % data_dir)
+    return English(data_dir=data_dir)
 
 
 def pytest_addoption(parser):
diff --git a/spacy/tests/serialize/test_packer.py b/spacy/tests/serialize/test_packer.py
index 0e13b2de5..392cba8e3 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/serialize/test_packer.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/serialize/test_packer.py
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ from spacy.vocab import Vocab
 from spacy.tokens.doc import Doc
 from spacy.tokenizer import Tokenizer
 from os import path
+import os
 
+from spacy import util
 from spacy.attrs import ORTH, SPACY, TAG, DEP, HEAD
 from spacy.serialize.packer import Packer
 
@@ -20,7 +22,13 @@ from spacy.serialize.bits import BitArray
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def vocab():
-    vocab = English.default_vocab()
+    data_dir = os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA')
+    if data_dir is None:
+        package = util.get_package_by_name()
+    else:
+        package = util.get_package(data_dir)
+
+    vocab = English.default_vocab(package=package)
     lex = vocab['dog']
     assert vocab[vocab.strings['dog']].orth_ == 'dog'
     lex  = vocab['the']
diff --git a/spacy/tests/tagger/test_lemmatizer.py b/spacy/tests/tagger/test_lemmatizer.py
index e25fbe199..af85645a6 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/tagger/test_lemmatizer.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/tagger/test_lemmatizer.py
@@ -1,17 +1,22 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
+import os
 import io
 import pickle
 
 from spacy.lemmatizer import Lemmatizer, read_index, read_exc
-from spacy.util import get_package
+from spacy import util
 
 import pytest
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def package():
-    return get_package()
+    data_dir = os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA')
+    if data_dir is None:
+        return util.get_package_by_name()
+    else:
+        return util.get_package(data_dir)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -20,14 +25,16 @@ def lemmatizer(package):
 
 
 def test_read_index(package):
-    index = package.load_utf8(read_index, 'wordnet', 'index.noun')
+    with package.open(('wordnet', 'index.noun')) as file_:
+        index = read_index(file_)
     assert 'man' in index
     assert 'plantes' not in index
     assert 'plant' in index
 
 
 def test_read_exc(package):
-    exc = package.load_utf8(read_exc, 'wordnet', 'verb.exc')
+    with package.open(('wordnet', 'verb.exc')) as file_:
+        exc = read_exc(file_)
     assert exc['was'] == ('be',)
 
 
diff --git a/spacy/tests/tokenizer/test_contractions.py b/spacy/tests/tokenizer/test_contractions.py
index afb1b1fe5..568e34704 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/tokenizer/test_contractions.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/tokenizer/test_contractions.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ def test_punct(en_tokenizer):
     assert len(tokens) == 3
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail
 def test_therell(en_tokenizer):
     tokens = en_tokenizer("there'll")
     assert len(tokens) == 2
diff --git a/spacy/tests/website/conftest.py b/spacy/tests/website/conftest.py
index b4934d20b..e2c64cfd7 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/website/conftest.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/website/conftest.py
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ import os
 @pytest.fixture(scope='session')
 def nlp():
     from spacy.en import English
-    return English()
+    if os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA'):
+        data_dir = os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA')
+    else:
+        data_dir = None
+    return English(data_dir=data_dir)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
diff --git a/spacy/tests/website/test_home.py b/spacy/tests/website/test_home.py
index 5317e7e56..3d9aa5dd6 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/website/test_home.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/website/test_home.py
@@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ def token(doc):
 
 
 def test_load_resources_and_process_text():
+    if os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA'):
+        data_dir = os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA')
+    else:
+        data_dir = None
+    print("Load EN from %s" % data_dir)
+ 
     from spacy.en import English
-    nlp = English()
+    nlp = English(data_dir=data_dir)
     doc = nlp('Hello, world. Here are two sentences.')
 
 
diff --git a/spacy/tokenizer.pyx b/spacy/tokenizer.pyx
index 345734682..593d0dc7d 100644
--- a/spacy/tokenizer.pyx
+++ b/spacy/tokenizer.pyx
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@ from .strings cimport hash_string
 cimport cython
 
 from . import util
-from .util import read_lang_data
 from .tokens.doc cimport Doc
+from .util import read_lang_data
+from .util import get_package
 
 
 cdef class Tokenizer:
@@ -40,6 +41,10 @@ cdef class Tokenizer:
 
         return (self.__class__, args, None, None)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def load(cls, data_dir, Vocab vocab):
+        return cls.from_package(get_package(data_dir), vocab=vocab)
+
     @classmethod
     def from_package(cls, package, Vocab vocab):
         rules, prefix_re, suffix_re, infix_re = read_lang_data(package)
diff --git a/spacy/util.py b/spacy/util.py
index 8c9ea319c..390c83a03 100644
--- a/spacy/util.py
+++ b/spacy/util.py
@@ -2,23 +2,36 @@ import os
 import io
 import json
 import re
+import os.path
 
-from sputnik import Sputnik
+import six
+import sputnik
+from sputnik.dir_package import DirPackage
+from sputnik.package_list import (PackageNotFoundException,
+                                  CompatiblePackageNotFoundException)
 
+from . import about
 from .attrs import TAG, HEAD, DEP, ENT_IOB, ENT_TYPE
 
 
-def get_package(name=None, data_path=None):
-    if data_path is None:
-        if os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA'):
-            data_path = os.environ.get('SPACY_DATA')
-        else:
-            data_path = os.path.abspath(
-                os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data'))
+def get_package(data_dir):
+    if not isinstance(data_dir, six.string_types):
+        raise RuntimeError('data_dir must be a string')
+    return DirPackage(data_dir)
 
-    sputnik = Sputnik('spacy', '0.100.0')  # TODO: retrieve version
-    pool = sputnik.pool(data_path)
-    return pool.get(name or 'en_default')
+
+def get_package_by_name(name=None, via=None):
+    try:
+        return sputnik.package(about.__name__, about.__version__,
+                               name or about.__default_model__, data_path=via)
+    except PackageNotFoundException as e:
+        raise RuntimeError("Model not installed. Please run 'python -m "
+                           "spacy.en.download' to install latest compatible "
+                           "model.")
+    except CompatiblePackageNotFoundException as e:
+        raise RuntimeError("Installed model is not compatible with spaCy "
+                           "version. Please run 'python -m spacy.en.download "
+                           "--force' to install latest compatible model.")
 
 
 def normalize_slice(length, start, stop, step=None):
@@ -46,10 +59,13 @@ def utf8open(loc, mode='r'):
 
 
 def read_lang_data(package):
-    tokenization = package.load_utf8(json.load, 'tokenizer', 'specials.json')
-    prefix = package.load_utf8(read_prefix, 'tokenizer', 'prefix.txt')
-    suffix = package.load_utf8(read_suffix, 'tokenizer', 'suffix.txt')
-    infix = package.load_utf8(read_infix, 'tokenizer', 'infix.txt')
+    tokenization = package.load_json(('tokenizer', 'specials.json'))
+    with package.open(('tokenizer', 'prefix.txt'), default=None) as file_:
+        prefix = read_prefix(file_) if file_ is not None else None
+    with package.open(('tokenizer', 'suffix.txt'), default=None) as file_:
+        suffix = read_suffix(file_) if file_ is not None else None
+    with package.open(('tokenizer', 'infix.txt'), default=None) as file_:
+        infix = read_infix(file_) if file_ is not None else None
     return tokenization, prefix, suffix, infix
 
 
diff --git a/spacy/vocab.pyx b/spacy/vocab.pyx
index bb0ae6173..f4750dcb5 100644
--- a/spacy/vocab.pyx
+++ b/spacy/vocab.pyx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from .orth cimport word_shape
 from .typedefs cimport attr_t
 from .cfile cimport CFile
 from .lemmatizer import Lemmatizer
+from .util import get_package
 
 from . import attrs
 from . import symbols
@@ -46,28 +47,28 @@ EMPTY_LEXEME.vector = EMPTY_VEC
 cdef class Vocab:
     '''A map container for a language's LexemeC structs.
     '''
+    @classmethod
+    def load(cls, data_dir, get_lex_attr=None):
+        return cls.from_package(get_package(data_dir), get_lex_attr=get_lex_attr)
+
     @classmethod
     def from_package(cls, package, get_lex_attr=None):
-        tag_map = package.load_utf8(json.load,
-            'vocab', 'tag_map.json')
+        tag_map = package.load_json(('vocab', 'tag_map.json'), default={})
 
         lemmatizer = Lemmatizer.from_package(package)
 
-        serializer_freqs = package.load_utf8(json.load,
-            'vocab', 'serializer.json',
-            require=False)  # TODO: really optional?
+        serializer_freqs = package.load_json(('vocab', 'serializer.json'), default={})
 
         cdef Vocab self = cls(get_lex_attr=get_lex_attr, tag_map=tag_map,
                               lemmatizer=lemmatizer, serializer_freqs=serializer_freqs)
 
-        if package.has_file('vocab', 'strings.json'):  # TODO: really optional?
-            package.load_utf8(self.strings.load, 'vocab', 'strings.json')
-            self.load_lexemes(package.file_path('vocab', 'lexemes.bin'))
+        with package.open(('vocab', 'strings.json')) as file_:
+            self.strings.load(file_)
+        self.load_lexemes(package.file_path('vocab', 'lexemes.bin'))
 
-        if package.has_file('vocab', 'vec.bin'):  # TODO: really optional?
+        if package.has_file('vocab', 'vec.bin'):
             self.vectors_length = self.load_vectors_from_bin_loc(
                 package.file_path('vocab', 'vec.bin'))
-
         return self
 
     def __init__(self, get_lex_attr=None, tag_map=None, lemmatizer=None, serializer_freqs=None):