More on SharePoint 2007 and ASP.NET AJAX

Mike Ammerlaan (PM for WSS) stepped up and posted a detailed article about the integration of ASP.NET AJAX and SharePoint.

Here's an interesting section:

Here are some common scenarios in SharePoint you should be able to achieve with Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX 1.0:

1. Building a more powerful, re-usable JavaScript libraries you can use in your web controls and parts
2. Enabling your web services to render via JSON, resulting in easier usage in JavaScript/Ajax Applications
3. Building a web part that takes advantage of Extender technology to provide richer interaction styles, such as autocomplete on a textbox.
4. Using an UpdatePanel in your web part or control for more fluid, no postback interaction. (this will require some workarounds, however.)

Recommended reading: the full article.