The Ajax Control Toolkit contains a rich set of controls that you can use to build highly responsive and interactive Ajax-enabled Web applications. The Ajax Control Toolkit contains more than 40 controls, including the AutoComplete, CollapsiblePanel, ColorPicker, MaskedEdit, Calendar, Accordion, and Watermark controls. Using the Ajax Control Toolkit, you can build Ajax-enabled ASP.NET Web Forms applications by dragging-and-dropping Toolkit controls from the Visual Studio Toolbox onto a Web Forms page.

To view an interactive Web site that demonstrates each of the Ajax Control Toolkit controls, visit the Ajax Control Toolkit Sample Site:

http://www.asp.net/ajax/ajaxcontroltoolkit/samples/

Ajax Control Toolkit in the ASP.NET Ajax Library

The Ajax Control Toolkit is now part of the ASP.NET Ajax Library. To use the latest version of the Ajax Control Toolkit, download the ASP.NET Ajax Library from the following Web site:

http://Ajax.CodePlex.com

The Ajax Control Toolkit in the ASP.NET Ajax Library works just like the Ajax Control Toolkit that was released earlier as a standalone component. The new Ajax Control Toolkit in the ASP.NET Ajax Library works with ASP.NET MVC applications. If you are comfortable programming in JavaScript, you can use the new Ajax Control Toolkit for pure client-side scenarios.
In addition, the ASP.NET Ajax Library contains functionality that is not included in the Ajax Control Toolkit, such as support for client data access, client templates, and client data binding. The ASP.NET Ajax Library also enables you to use Ajax Control Toolkit controls with jQuery.

To learn more about the new ASP.NET Ajax Library, visit the following Web site:

http://www.ASP.net/ajaxLibrary

Downloading the Original Ajax Control Toolkit

The ASP.NET Ajax Library is currently being released as Beta software. If you prefer to use the original Ajax Control Toolkit, you can download the original Ajax Control Toolkit.