ActiveX is a deprecated software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model and Object Linking and Embedding 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. ActiveX is still supported as of Windows 10 through Internet Explorer 11, while ActiveX is not supported in their default web browser Microsoft Edge.
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, Microsoft added support to host ActiveX controls within HTML content. If the browser encountered a page specifying an ActiveX control via an OBJECTtag it would automatically download and install the control with little or no user intervention. This made the web "richer" but provoked objections and security risks. Microsoft subsequently introduced security measures to make browsing including ActiveX safer. For example:
controls must explicitly declare themselves safe for scripting
increasingly stringent default security settings
Internet Explorer maintains a blacklist of bad controls
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 Verisignand 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 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. Six months and two more beta releases later, there had yet to be any commercially available Macintosh ActiveX plugins. In 1997, NCompass Labs in cooperation with Microsoft released a plug-in for Netscape Navigator to support ActiveX. Documentation for ActiveX core technology resides at The Open Group and may be read 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. While Microsoft made significant effort to push the cross-platform aspect of ActiveX by way of publishing the API, ultimately the cross-platform effort failed due to the ActiveX controls being written in C or C++ and being compiled in Intel x86 Assembly language, making them executable only on Windows machines where they can call the standard Win32 APIs. Microsoft dropped ActiveX support from the Windows Store edition of Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8. In 2015 Microsoft released Microsoft Edge, the replacement for Internet Explorer with no support for ActiveX, this marked 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, nor may a user want to.
ScriptActive for Netscape Navigator last updated in 1997 can run ActiveX controls but requires a special HTML tag.
Google Chrome ActiveX Control is available through the utilization of the , which allows the use of a special "IE Tab," an emulation of Internet Explorer within the Chrome application. The IE Tab displays a second address bar and processes ActiveX protocols normally. Enabling ActiveX protocols allows Chrome users access to a variety of interactive dynamic websites like game and business web applications.
Other ActiveX technologies
Microsoft has developed a large number of products and software platforms using ActiveX objects. They are still used :
