get ready for 2.0

If you've been regularly browsing through the net in the past few months, you might notice that some of your favorite sites have been undergoing a lot of beta tests. For example, Hotmail, some of you might got an invitation to the new Hotmail Live, which is one of the component of Windows Live, Microsoft's next big-project to unite Internet users all around the world. Differing from normal Hotmail account, these Live account has a pretty neat new layout and functionality. Basically Microsoft has been improving its usability so it will be more easier to use, even for those computer illiterate.

Or try to visit GoggleIG, it's Google's customizable homepage, means you could set what do you want to see there, ranging from news, gmails, weather forecast, jokes, etc. You even can add components from external site such as digg. This component later can be easily dragged and dropped to match your layout. This way your browser homepage is only full of stuffs that you want to really see.

There are many other websites that are undergoing such changes, mostly on their user-interface. You might also realize that those interfaces are more dynamic than their previous static interfaces. They are also starting to abandon Flash-based interface to provide interactivity, instead they are using AJAX as they are faster and more resource friendly to your computer.
According to Wikipedia:

Ajax, shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, and usability.

In short, the implementation of AJAX on their website brings more interactivity to it, and you don't need extra program (i.e. Macromedia Flash plug-ins) to run it on your browser, because it only uses javascript and stuffs that most browsers are capable of.
This greater interactivity is bringing websites to the next level, some may say it is the coming of Web 2.0.

What is Web 2.0? It will take more than a common Internet users like to really describe it. Generally speaking, Web 2.0 is the next generation of website that let people collaborate and share information online in perceived new ways. Examples of Web 2.0 are Hotmail Live and GoogleIG that have been mentioned above. But of course there are dozens of other Web 2.0 websites. You might find your own description by visiting Web 2.0 websites that are pictured in this diagram. Tell me what do you think about this. I think this will totally expand the functionality of websites, as they can be considered now as a dynamic application that is accessed directly from the net, instead of just boring static presentation of lines of text.

Some of cool Web 2.0 that you might want to visit:

• meebo - an AJAX messengers, supports MSN, Yahoo!, and AIM messengers.
• GoogleIG - Google's customizable homepage.
• Facebook - a social networking site based on colleges and highschools.
  
• Last.FM - a social networking site based on your music preferences.
  
• Yahoo! Widgets - AJAX softwares that you can put neatly on your website.