Not an expert in this field, but that never stopped me from commenting!

I think that a LAMP environment will be a good way to deliver the AJAX technologies. Keep in mind that you still have the cons of PHP but probably don't need to learn all of the dirty hacks (hopefully like trying to make PHP an OOL).

Also, my apologies for the post above - it is a severe breach of decorum to post a comment that is longer than the article!