Original author(s) | Developer(s) Microsoft | |
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Initial release 1996; 21 years ago (1996) Website microsoft.com/com/tech/activex.asp | ||
ActiveX is a software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the World Wide Web. Microsoft introduced ActiveX in 1996. In principle, ActiveX is not dependent on Microsoft Windows operating systems, but in practice most ActiveX controls only run on Windows. Most also require the client to be running on an x86-based computer because ActiveX controls contain compiled code.
Contents
- ActiveX controls
- History
- Platform support
- ActiveX in non Internet Explorer applications
- Other ActiveX technologies
- References
ActiveX is still supported as of Windows 10, through Internet Explorer 11, while ActiveX is not supported in their default web browser Microsoft Edge (that has a different incompatible extension system).
ActiveX controls
Formerly Object Linking and Embedding, ActiveX is one of the major technologies used in component-based software engineering. Compared with JavaBeans, ActiveX supports more programming languages, but JavaBeans supports more platforms. ActiveX is supported in many rapid application development technologies, such as Active Template Library, Delphi, JavaBeans, Microsoft Foundation Class Library, Qt, Visual Basic, Windows Forms and wxWidgets, to enable application developers to embed ActiveX controls into their products.
Many Microsoft Windows applications—including many of those from Microsoft itself, such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visual Studio, and Windows Media Player—use ActiveX controls to build their feature-set and also encapsulate their own functionality as ActiveX controls which can then be embedded into other applications. Internet Explorer also allows the embedding of ActiveX controls in web pages.
History
Faced with the complexity of OLE 2.0 and with poor support for COM in MFC, Microsoft simplified the specification and rebranded the technology as ActiveX in 1996. Even after simplification, users still required controls to implement about six core interfaces. In response to this complexity, Microsoft produced wizards, ATL base classes, macros and C++ language extensions to make it simpler to write controls.
Starting with Internet Explorer 3.0 (1996), Microsoft added support to host ActiveX controls within HTML content. If the browser encountered a page specifying an ActiveX control via an OBJECT tag, it would automatically download and install the control with little or no user intervention. This made the web "richer" but provoked objections (since such controls, in practice, ran only on Windows, and separate controls were required for each supported platform: one for Windows 3.1/Windows NT 3.51, one for Windows NT/95, and one for Macintosh F68K/PowerPC.) and security risks (especially given the lack of user intervention). Microsoft subsequently introduced security measures to make browsing including ActiveX safer.
For example:
ActiveX was controversial from the start; while Microsoft claimed programming ease and good performance compared to Java applets in its marketing materials, critics of ActiveX were quick to point out security issues and lack of portability, making it impractical for use outside protected intranets. The ActiveX security model relied almost entirely on identifying trusted component developers using a code signing technology called Authenticode. Developers had to register with Verisign (US$20 per year for individuals, $400 for corporations) and sign a contract, promising not to develop malware. Identified code would then run inside the web browser with full permissions, meaning that any bug in the code was a potential security issue; this contrasts with the sandboxing already used in Java at the time.
Platform support
In October 1996, Microsoft released a beta version of the ActiveX Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Macintosh, including a plug-in for Netscape Navigator on the Mac, and announced its plan to support ActiveX on Solaris later that year.
Shortly thereafter, Microsoft made ActiveX open source. Documentation for ActiveX core technology resides at The Open Group and may be downloaded for free.
Despite Microsoft's previous efforts to make ActiveX cross-platform, most ActiveX controls will not work on all platforms, so using ActiveX controls to implement essential functionality of a web page restricts its usefulness. South Korea has started to remove this technology from their public websites in order to make their web site accessible to more platforms.
Microsoft dropped ActiveX support from the Windows Store edition of Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8. In 2015, Microsoft Edge, the replacement for Internet Explorer, dropped ActiveX support, marking the end of the technology in Microsoft's web browser development.
ActiveX in non-Internet Explorer applications
It may not always be possible to use Internet Explorer to execute ActiveX content (e.g., on a Wine installation), nor may a user want to.
Other ActiveX technologies
Microsoft has developed a large number of products and software platforms using ActiveX objects. They are still used (e.g., websites still use ASP.):