- Ajax transport objects are now automatically wrapped in an Ajax.Response object.
- Ajax.Response includes support for accessing JSON response bodies as JavaScript objects via the responseJSON property.
- The class API now includes full support for inheritance and superclass method calls. (See Mislav’s tutorial for more info.)
- Class objects now have an addMethods method for adding instance methods after creation.
- Prototype’s event API now supports firing DOM-based custom events with Element#fire.
- The new dom:loaded custom event fires when the entire document has loaded and is ready for manipulation.
- Object properties can now be used in template replacement strings.
The complementary Script.aculo,us 1.8 includes new features as well:
- Complete rewrite of the in-place editing controls.
- Full CSS inheritance support for Effect.Morph.
- Support for tweening between two values of an element property or method call with Effect.Tween.
- A new sound API for playing interface sound effect MP3s.
- Numerous bug fixes and performance improvements.