Right after the Q2 2011 Beta release of Telerik Extensions for ASP.NET MVC which was launched yesterday, it is our pleasure to present you with the long-anticipated Q2 Beta release of RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX. Our industry-leading AJAX suite receives fresh and tempting updates, hence wait no more but give them a spin! The AJAX Q2 Beta bits are uploaded in the Telerik accounts under the AJAX Product Files Download section, both for the TRIAL and PAID version of the product.

New controls, new skins, and more

With this release we adjoin another two AJAX components to our portfolio - Image Editor and Notification.

• Image Editor - powerful component for editing graphics real time in the browser with which you can opt an image and define attributes like width/height or opacity; flip, rotate or crop it; zoom, print or add text to the image, and save it. More tools will be added gradually for the post- Q2 2011 version of the image editor.
  
  
  See demos
• Notification - light popup widget with semantic HTML output which supports static content, load on demand (via WebService or callback), embedded and custom icons, and built-in context menu. The component can be further customized by applying animations, designating intervals after which it will automatically show or update, specifying its position on the screen, etc.
   
  
  
  
  See demos

Moreover, we extended the set of skins that are shipped with our AJAX controls with four more - Transparent and three Office2010 variations (Blue, Silver and Black). We also separated an individual assembly (Telerik.Web.UI.Skins.dll) which, starting Q3 2011, will host all AJAX skins except the default one (see this blog post for details).

That is not all - to facilitate you in finding and operating with our controls via the Visual Studio ToolBox, we decided to introduce Telerik AJAX ToolBox groups in Visual Studio 2008/2010.  The names of the groups are chosen based on the usage of the components (i.e. Data, Data Editing, Navigation, Calendar and Scheduler, etc.). Here is a preview of what your VS toolbox will look like when you install the new major version of the AJAX bundle:

Finally, with this drop we officially confirm FireFox 5 compatibility of our AJAX components.

New features for existing controls

Updated Grid VS Design-time wizard - having radically new look and feel starting Q1 2011, the Grid's VS wizard gets some useful updates (located in Grouping and Client Settings tabs) that facilitates the developer to define grouping and client settings in a completely codeless manner through the design-time configurator.

Tighter integration between Editor and RibbonBar - RadEditor exposes RibbonBar toolbar mode which directly utilizes our AJAX RibbonBar for seamless integration of both components. Thus you can manipulate the editor content using the RibbonBar interface without writing a single line of code.

See demo

RibbonBar Templates - presented for the first time in Q1 2011, the AJAX RibbonBar gets an important update by giving the ability to define templates for its items (HTML, other controls, Telerik AJAX controls, etc.). Expect more features to follow for the official Q2 2011 push.

See demo

Scheduler PDF export - in addition to the broad set of features supported by our AJAX scheduler, it now provides export to PDF option which is very convenient in cases when you would like to export and print your schedule for offline reference. You also have the freedom to choose the view (day, week, etc.) which will be exported.

See demo

TreeList features - the TreeList is supplied with a bunch of new features like drag and drop and load on demand of items, scrolling with static headers, as well as enhanced Visual Studio Design-time Wizard. See the images below for your visual pleasure and rush to the live examples to test the new stuff.

See demos

SharePoint 2010 Web Parts Updates

Let's not forget the SharePoint 2010 web parts that come as part of the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX distribution. With this update we are proud to inform you that our SPRadGrid web part already supports client-side binding to SPLists and Excel files (through web services). What is more, it also exposes option for binding to external lists using Business Connectivity Services. Some really exciting news for all SharePoint developers out there! Stand by for new examples that illustrate that on our SharePoint 2010 demo site by the end of this week.

Lastly, the AJAX Q2 2011 Beta online demos and documentation can be viewed at the usual locations: Live Demos | Documentation

Full Release Notes List > AJAX Q2 2011 Release Notes

I think that is all for now - more to come in a couple of weeks when the final Q2 2011 pack will be published. Until then, you can leave us your feedback in the public AJAX Q2 2011 Beta forum.

Register for the Free Webinar on What's New for Web Developers in Q2 2011.

Register now as seats are limited!

When: Wednesday, July 19

11:00 AM EDT Register 

Check this page for the full Q2 2011 webinar listing.