Life after ActiveX

[Rob Allen]

Hi Folks.

This is more of a "thinking about" post than a real question with a
solution. That being said, here we go:

Microsoft has in fact lost a patent infridgment suit which will cost
them billions of dollars. The suit surrounds patents underlying ActiveX.
ActiveX controls are widely used and developed for adding non-static
content to a webpage. This was handled back in the day by JavaScripts.
The settlement of this suit requires Microsoft to stop using ActiveX and
to pay restitution.

So, enough background, here is the question: with so many apps and
coders relying on ActiveX (i grudgingly use it myself to envoke Flash
content), whats a coder to do in ActiveX's absence?

JavaScripts are too clunky and those who have taken the easy (read,
Frontpage) way out of writing HMTL will be lost in real code. JS also
has the drawback of server side processing (time).

So what can we fall back on that will be as fast, as easy and freely
distributed?

--Rob--

 

[David Megginson]

ActiveX controls are widely used and developed for adding non-static
content to a webpage.

Really? I know that Microsoft pushed ActiveX controls pretty hard,
but I personally never happened across one actually used in the wild
-- the idea of ActiveX-controls-in-the-browser didn't even do as well
as Java-applets-in-the-browser (which was hardly a howling success
itself). Perhaps the ActiveX stuff tends to show up inside company
Intranets, where they don't have to worry about Windows versions
incompatibilities as much (not to mention non-Windows client
platforms).

People who want live content seem to use either JavaScript/ECMAScript
or (yech) Flash.


All the best,


David

 

[Rob Allen]

Hi David,

In basic development usage of something like Flash gets a lot of
ActiveX attention. Especially for those programmers content on
developing only for Internet Explorer. There are also several freely
available scripts for all sorts of useful applications which rely on
ActiveX. The impact may be more severe than you can imagine. Take a look
at the W3C's site (w3c.org) and I think you'll get a sense of how much
the community is concerned.

--Rob--

 

[David Megginson]

In basic development usage of something like Flash gets a lot of
ActiveX attention. Especially for those programmers content on
developing only for Internet Explorer. There are also several freely
available scripts for all sorts of useful applications which rely on
ActiveX. The impact may be more severe than you can imagine. Take a look
at the W3C's site (w3c.org) and I think you'll get a sense of how much
the community is concerned.

You might be misreading the W3C's concern -- they're not worried about
ActiveX, but about the implications of the patent ruling for *any*
embedded live content. Personally, I think that they'll be successful
in finding enough prior art to bury the patent (which wasn't filed
until October 1994), but as with previous predatory patents, it will
take a fair bit of time and money.

I am curious about ActiveX on the Web. Can you point me to a few
popular sites (other than MS and affiliates) that use it? I have not
stumbled upon them myself, but then, I'm usually not browsing in
Windows, so I might be getting fed alternative content.


All the best,


David

 

[Rob Allen]

Hi David,

The most often used code involving ActiveX is a JavaScript which
checks for browser and OS versions. If your OS is windows and you are
using IE as your browser, then the code makes a sigh of relife and loads
the Ac-X component. If not, it runs thru a series of JavaScript work
arounds for Mac, Linux/Unix, Netscape, Opera, Konqurer, etc... depending
on how thurough the coder was that particular day.

As for examples of its previlence, any site using .NET (ASP.NET for
example) may use ActiveX significantly. ActiveX is a code library tool.
So its difficult to pin down exactly which sites use it. You can write
your own controls into the ActiveX library.

I agree that w3c is more concerned with the larger issue of software
patents and the free spirit of the internet community. My particular
concern is which direction the community goes to replace ActiveX. I am
pulling for an open source solution. But I digress.

--Rob--