Ajax lets Web developers create "rich content, thin client-side" applications with somewhat less effort than with alternatives like Flash or Java Applets. As such, Ajax fits in with methodologies like Extreme Programming (XP) and allied types of rapid prototyping. The resulting product can have superior look and feel and contain powerful functionality as well.

Google comes up the clear winner in several different application categories, including calendars, Email, information managers, and spreadsheets. But Google is not alone in exploiting the benefits of AJAX, and the article points out a number of non-Google applications that are winners as well.