I've been looking around and the news is an AJAX powered forum is on its way
Bad news is that is most liekly to be a service rather than downloadble

So what is AJAX?
When you use quick reply in vBulletin the message appears instantly!
Thats because it is scripted in AJAX
So if a forum system is in AJAX then messages appear instantly!
No refreshing is needed!

Currently there is no beta test, download or hosting for this system although they are accepting suggestions!

And it will have an AJAX shoutbox built in

The project is named JAXBoard and the suggestions thread can be found here

Hmm... Interesting. I might test it when it comes out.

I heard something like that once in a Hosting forums. I would like to test it when it comes out. And if it is for download, I just might use it for a random forum board! XD