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ASP.NET "Atlas" March CTP Version Now Available

ASP.NET codename "Atlas" is a set of technologies to add Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) support to ASP.NET. For those of you who haven't already heard, the March Community Technology Preview version of "Atlas" is now available for download.

What is Atlas?

I've never been good at writing these little descriptions so I'll leave it to Microsoft. The following is quoted directly from the "Atlas" download page:

This new Web development technology from Microsoft integrates client script libraries with the ASP.NET 2.0 server-based development framework. In addition, 'Atlas' offers you the same type of development platform for client-based Web pages that ASP.NET offers for server-based pages. And because 'Atlas' is an extension of ASP.NET, it is fully integrated with server-based services. "Atlas" makes it possible to easily take advantage of AJAX techniques on the Web and enables you to create ASP.NET pages with a rich, responsive UI and server communication. However, 'Atlas' isn't just for ASP.NET. You can take advantage of the rich client framework to easily build client-centric Web applications that integrate with any backend data provider.

• "Atlas" enables you to take full advantage of the capabilities of the browser to deliver richer web experiences that work on any modern browser.
• "Atlas" enables ASP.NET developers to enrich their web applications with incredible ease.
• "Atlas" includes a rich client-side Javascript framework that enables easy creation and reuse of script components and rich client-side behaviors.
• "Atlas" makes it super easy to consume services from ASP.NET, and to build composite applications from services on the programmable web.

If you're looking to get started using "Atlas" and learn better from demos and seeing things get done then by reading about them, be sure to check out the "Atlas" Media page. As far as I can tell it's not really linked into the site via the navigation tabs (so it can be a little difficult to find), but it's well worth checking out if you want to get a feel for "Atlas" or see it in action before you install it.

One last note to leave you with... please remember that while this version of "Atlas" does feel like it's pretty much ready to ship, this is still pre-release software so you might still run into a bug or two. If you're going to be doing anything important with it, you should probably wait until the product actually ships before you deploy anything so that you can get support if you need it.

More Information

• The Official Microsoft "ATLAS" Site
• "Atlas" Download Information
• "Atlas" Media
• MSDN TV: ASP.NET "Atlas" First Look - An alternate method of viewing one on the videos from the above Media Page