Microsoft has just released its ASP .NET AJAX 1.0, a free tool that lets developers create standards-compliant Web applications based on Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or Ajax. The most ubiquitous Ajax-based applications, for example, are Google Maps and Gmail, which let users interact with them without requiring the full browser page to refresh while they’re in use. Microsoft’s Ajax entry, which was codenamed “Atlas” during development, primarily targets ASP .Net developers.

Source: Microsoft Late With Ajax – Still Anyone’s Game