The .NET Framework version 3.5 includes enhancements for ASP.NET in the following areas:
--> New server controls, types, and a client-script library that work together to enable you to develop AJAX-style Web applications.
--> Extension of server-based forms authentication, roles management, and profile services as Web services that can be consumed by Web-based applications.
--> A new EntityDataSource control that exposes the Entity Data Model through the ASP.NET data source control architecture.
--> A new ListView data control that displays data and that provides a highly customizable UI.
--> A new LinqDataSource control that exposes Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) through the ASP.NET data source control architecture.
--> A new merge tool (Aspnet_merge.exe) that merges precompiled assemblies to support flexible deployment and release management. This feature is not available in Visual Web Developer Express Edition.
The .NET Framework version 3.5 is also integrated with IIS 7.0. You can now use ASP.NET services such as forms authentication and caching for all content types, not just ASP.NET Web pages (.aspx files). This is because ASP.NET and IIS 7.0 use the same request pipeline. The unified request processing pipeline means that you can use managed code to develop HTTP pipeline modules that work with all requests in IIS. In addition, IIS and ASP.NET modules and handlers now support unified configuration.
