The W3C have recently started a working draft of a XMLHTTPRequest specification, as I discovered through the PHP section of AJAX Magazine (via Ajaxian).
This is great news, not just because it might lead to more standardised code (no more jumping between native XMLHTTPRequest objects and ActiveX), but because it will raise the profile of AJAX and more specifically the Right Way To Do It. The W3C is, rightly, an influential body and will no doubt become more important as web developers the world over become more aware of the standards we should all work to.
AJAX, in case you didn’t know, is the term to describe modern JavaScript techniques. It’scausing big waves in web-world at the moment, and is a major part of the new Wiblog3 system.