I finally got the chance to start working on ASP.Net MVC with jQuery & Linq.
My last project was based on the now "old" .Net 2.0 & we went with a complete MS technology stack including their version of AJAX. Adding third party controls to the mix didnot help & only added to the overall complexity of the system.
MS Ajax - is surely past its sell by date.
When this library was first put out, I was truly excited & hoped it would be all it promised to be. For sometime, I really enjoyed it. But then once I got jQuery-ed, its bye-bye Ms. Ajax. Inspite of all her glitz & glamour, I lost my heart to the pure simplicity of jQuery.
I have never been a big believer of third party controls - regardless of the claims of the component supporters.
True they save you a load of upfront effort & look cool. Unfortunately, in my experience, the project starts degrading in performance, maintainability & testability the minute a third party control starts appearing in your codebase.
Needless to say, after all that - MVC, jQuery & Linq - utopia!!!