Key technologies
Technologies such as AJAX, Flex, Meshup, Atom, Podcast, XML, Javascripts, RSS Feed, Wiki, P2P, and Blog form the backbone of Web 2.0. AJAX enables the exchange of small amount of data with the server behind the scene, making the webpage more responsive and thus avoiding the entire webpage from reloading during a refresh. The main programming language is JavaScript wherein AJAX functions are made and with the use of XML the data which is asynchronously retrieved and kept are formatted.

So when you log into your Gmail account, you would notice it to be refreshed after a particular interval without actually loading the whole page all over again, it just asynchronously checks for new data. The biggest advantage is that this is a cross-platform technology, hence can be used across various OSs, Computer Architectures, and Web browsers.

Mash-up is a value-added service source from a third party, which is to be integrated into a Web application. It sources the content from a third party via a public interface or API. Mash-ups opened up new avenues for the enterprise as it renders interoperability and can also be used to source content from disparate Web Services. Podcast made audio blogging a reality. It is mainly a digital media file or collection of such files which can be distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and PCs.

Wiki even though existed for a long time is now an important knowledge sharing platform. On the hardware front the emergence of Broadband and storage becoming cheaper played a big part on the success of Web 2.0. All these have made up what Web 2.0 is all about.

Latest developments
The big news in Web 2.0 this year was that most major software vendors introduced Web 2.0 technologies in their current and future products. Enterprises started leveraging this technology in many creative ways. So things like allowing your customers who are visiting your e-commmerce portal to interact with your staff members is now possible. Some use Podcasts, Webinars, and Blogs as marketing tools on their sites. Some use Mash-up, RSS Feed, and Atoms to get the right information to the right people. Many SaaS model-based applications are now being developed to be used as a Web application.