Comment by Cthulhu_
13 hours ago
Before jQuery there was Prototype.js, part of early AJAX support in RoR, which fixed inconsistencies in how browsers could fetch data, especially in the era between IE 5 and 7 (native JS `XMLHttpRequest` was only available from IE 7 onwards, before that it was some ActiveX thing. The other browsers supported it from the get go). My memory is vague, but it also added stuff like selectors, and on top of that was script.aculo.us which added animations and other such fanciness.
jQuery took over very quickly though for all of those.
> native JS `XMLHttpRequest` was only available from IE 7 onwards, before that it was some ActiveX thing.
Almost sure it was available on IE6. But even if not, you could emulate it using hidden iframes to call pages which embedded some javascript interacting with the main page. I still have fond memories of using mootools for lightweight nice animations and less fond ones of dojo.
Internet Explorer 5–6 was the ActiveX control. Then other browsers implemented XMLHTTPRequest based on how that ActiveX control worked, then Internet Explorer 7 implemented it without ActiveX the same way as the other browsers, and then WHATWG standardised it.
Kuro5hin had a dynamic commenting system based on iframes like you describe.