Microsoft talks AJAX
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+gets+hip+to+AJAX/2100-1007_3-5765197.html?tag=nefd.top
Not to be left out of any development trends, Microsoft is working to simplify the job of building so-called AJAX applications, or Web applications with sophisticated graphics.
The company is building software, code-named Atlas, that provides developers with tools designed to ease creation of AJAX-style applications. An early version of the software will be made available to developers at the company's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles in September.
Though it's a relatively new term, AJAX describes a set of Web technologies invented and standardized during the past eight years. Those include JavaScript, dynamic HTML and a feature called XmlHttp which reduces the need for Web clients to reconnect to a Web server every time information is downloaded.
A growing number of proponents argue that applications created with AJAX perform better than today's Web browser-based applications.