The screens we implemented AJAX.NET Pro for have heavy use of both HTML fragments and JSON. Being able to add a new record and have it immediately show up in the list, or edit an existing record and see the row get highlighted as updated right away is fantastic for the users.

And we actually took functionality that had been previously split into 2-4 screens and combined it into one, because we’re able to more easily replace sections of the screen quickly… combining tasks and reducing the steps needed to perform common business processes was a true win.

I think AJAX has more of a place in internal business apps than public-facing. You have more control of your environment so you know your users can take advantage of the technology, and you can save your users time by using it.

My consideration of Atlas was very brief as the project is still based on .NET 1.1 and will be for some time to come. (It’s roughly 700 screens, so a conversion would be quite costly, even with the Web Application Project available). But from the demos I had seen of the Betas of Atlas, it seemed somewhat limiting, like the other server-centric frameworks in my opinion. I really liked the client-centric frameworks for their flexibility.

Now, with nearly any application, i would say that the visuals are what appeals to 90% of the users. Having a rich interface which is non-intrusive, anything but clunky, responsive and intuitive is of a major importance to an application. Whether it is an internally facing application or not – it still matters.

100% of the work i do is internally faced these days – don’t deal with clients as we’re busy enough as it is with internal projects – and even if they are only internally faced applications, such as intranets, the user experience is just as important as if it was client facing (commercial, corporate website, e-commerce, banking etc). a user is more liable to be productive if his/her tools are pleasing – aestetically or functional..but the aestetics are becoming more and more important.

at least, IMHO, that’s the case…

I was going to add that I think MOST AJAX apps tend to be more for external web use. I don’t think AJAX is really that necessary for most business projects. For example, my main app is one that is business oriented, but client-facing, and as such, the improved UI and speed that comes from using Atlas is very welcome. For one that is a mainly intranet app, it’s probably of much less value. It’s that whole tradeoff of taking time to work through imperfect code in the CTP (which I might add has come a LOOOOOOOOOONGG way from the PDC release nearly a year ago) in order to get what are really niceties, moreso than necessities.

I’ll echo other comments here, why not post some of the things you’ve run into? We’ve probably already dealt with them and have found workarounds/fixes.

Maybe expanding on this post would be beneficial to everybody..

how about posting the problems you encountered and we can learn from it?

I didn’t mean to come across as a whiner, i was just genuinely surprised that you’d actually made the decision, knowing full well it was in CTP only, to implement it into your project..

I am not blaming the framework for my choice, I am just saying that I think it has some major problems.

first off, classic reading on this blog…much more interesting than mine in general.

secondly, loved your book “Visual Studio Hacks”..think we still have a copy floating around the office somewhere, if it hasn’t been “borrowed” permanently by somebody.

lastly – well here’s the gripe…i’m slightly surprised that you’ve actually gone and used a CTP release in a production environment/critial application (or if it’s a commercial application)..i mean, you should seriously have realised that a CTP release is not even close to being a stable release, or, rather stable enough for what you’re attempting to use it for.

I think it’s a bit shortsighted to actually blame the framework when it’s not complete yet….the choice was yours…”do you use a CTP release or don’t you”…you made an educated decision and it backfired..

very simple…