Ajax And Sharepoint wss 3.0 SP1

first install Asp.net ajax extensions and modify the web.config of your sharepoint site. instructions can be found here: msdn ajax install .

a simpler and safer way to put a scriptmanager is to add it to the masterpage (can be found :C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\GLOBAL\default.master )
and add an scriptmanager :
(asp:scriptmanager runat="server" enablepartialrendering="true" id="ScriptManager1")

just afer

(webpartpages:spwebpartmanager id="m" runat="Server")


Use this abstract class to inherit your webpart from and make it ajax-enabled.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 on Vista x64/x86

You can now run sharepoint services and develop webparts on vista, no more VM's !

This nice solutions was created by Bamboom solutions.
Check out the instructions and downloads here.
For me the install was successful and really easy, and I created some webparts with VS2008 that deployed without any problem.