<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
is	O
a	O
deprecated	B-General_Concept
software	B-Architecture
framework	I-Architecture
created	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
that	O
adapts	O
its	O
earlier	O
Component	B-Application
Object	I-Application
Model	I-Application
(	O
COM	B-Application
)	O
and	O
Object	B-Operating_System
Linking	I-Operating_System
and	I-Operating_System
Embedding	I-Operating_System
(	O
OLE	O
)	O
technologies	O
for	O
content	O
downloaded	O
from	O
a	O
network	O
,	O
particularly	O
from	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
introduced	O
ActiveX	B-Application
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
principle	O
,	O
ActiveX	B-Application
is	O
not	O
dependent	O
on	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
but	O
in	O
practice	O
,	O
most	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
only	O
run	O
on	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
also	O
require	O
the	O
client	O
to	O
be	O
running	O
on	O
an	O
x86-based	O
computer	O
because	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
contain	O
compiled	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
is	O
still	O
supported	O
in	O
the	O
"	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
mode	O
"	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Edge	I-Application
(	O
which	O
has	O
a	O
different	O
,	O
incompatible	O
extension	O
system	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
Chromium	B-Language
project	I-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
technologies	O
used	O
in	O
component-based	B-Architecture
software	I-Architecture
engineering	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
with	O
JavaBeans	O
,	O
ActiveX	B-Application
supports	O
more	O
programming	O
languages	O
,	O
but	O
JavaBeans	O
supports	O
more	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
is	O
supported	O
in	O
many	O
rapid	O
application	O
development	O
technologies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Active	B-Language
Template	I-Language
Library	I-Language
,	O
Delphi	B-Language
,	O
JavaBeans	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Language
Foundation	I-Language
Class	I-Language
Library	I-Language
,	O
Qt	B-Language
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
and	O
wxWidgets	B-Language
,	O
to	O
enable	O
application	O
developers	O
to	O
embed	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
into	O
their	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
applications	O
—	O
including	O
many	O
of	O
those	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
itself	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Visual	I-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Device
Media	I-Device
Player	I-Device
—	O
use	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
to	O
build	O
their	O
feature-set	O
and	O
also	O
encapsulate	O
their	O
own	O
functionality	O
as	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
which	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
embedded	O
into	O
other	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
also	O
allows	O
the	O
embedding	O
of	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
in	O
web	O
pages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Faced	O
with	O
the	O
complexity	O
of	O
OLE	B-Operating_System
2.0	I-Operating_System
and	O
with	O
poor	O
support	O
for	O
COM	B-Application
in	O
MFC	B-Language
,	O
Microsoft	O
simplified	O
the	O
specification	O
and	O
rebranded	O
the	O
technology	O
as	O
ActiveX	B-Application
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
this	O
complexity	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
produced	O
wizards	O
,	O
ATL	B-Language
base	O
classes	O
,	O
macros	O
and	O
C++	B-Language
language	I-Language
extensions	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
simpler	O
to	O
write	O
controls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
3.0	O
(	O
1996	O
)	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
added	O
support	O
to	O
host	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
within	O
HTML	B-Language
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
browser	O
encountered	O
a	O
page	O
specifying	O
an	O
ActiveX	B-Application
control	I-Application
via	O
an	O
OBJECT	O
tag	B-General_Concept
(	O
the	O
OBJECT	O
tag	B-General_Concept
was	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
HTML	B-Language
3.2	I-Language
specification	O
by	O
Charlie	O
Kindel	O
,	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
representative	O
to	O
the	O
W3C	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
)	O
it	O
would	O
automatically	O
download	O
and	O
install	O
the	O
control	O
with	O
little	O
or	O
no	O
user	O
intervention	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
made	O
the	O
web	O
"	O
richer	O
"	O
but	O
provoked	O
objections	O
(	O
since	O
such	O
controls	O
,	O
in	O
practice	O
,	O
ran	O
only	O
on	O
Windows	O
,	O
and	O
separate	O
controls	O
were	O
required	O
for	O
each	O
supported	O
platform	O
:	O
one	O
for	O
Windows	O
3.1/Windows	O
NT	O
3.51	O
,	O
one	O
for	O
Windows	O
NT/95	O
,	O
and	O
one	O
for	O
Macintosh	B-Operating_System
F68K/PowerPC	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
subsequently	O
introduced	O
security	O
measures	O
to	O
make	O
browsing	O
including	O
ActiveX	B-Application
safer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
was	O
controversial	O
from	O
the	O
start	O
;	O
while	O
Microsoft	O
claimed	O
programming	O
ease	O
and	O
good	O
performance	O
compared	O
to	O
Java	B-Application
applets	I-Application
in	O
its	O
marketing	O
materials	O
,	O
critics	O
of	O
ActiveX	B-Application
were	O
quick	O
to	O
point	O
out	O
security	O
issues	O
and	O
lack	O
of	O
portability	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
impractical	O
for	O
use	O
outside	O
protected	O
intranets	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ActiveX	B-Application
security	O
model	O
relied	O
almost	O
entirely	O
on	O
identifying	O
trusted	O
component	O
developers	O
using	O
a	O
code	O
signing	O
technology	O
called	O
Authenticode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
had	O
to	O
register	O
with	O
Verisign	B-Application
(	O
US$20	O
per	O
year	O
for	O
individuals	O
,	O
$400	O
for	O
corporations	O
)	O
and	O
sign	O
a	O
contract	O
,	O
promising	O
not	O
to	O
develop	O
malware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Identified	O
code	O
would	O
then	O
run	O
inside	O
the	O
web	O
browser	O
with	O
full	O
permissions	O
,	O
meaning	O
that	O
any	O
bug	B-Error_Name
in	O
the	O
code	O
was	O
a	O
potential	O
security	O
issue	O
;	O
this	O
contrasts	O
with	O
the	O
sandboxing	O
already	O
used	O
in	O
Java	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
1996	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
a	O
beta	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
ActiveX	B-Application
Software	B-Application
Development	I-Application
Kit	I-Application
(	O
SDK	O
)	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Operating_System
,	O
including	O
a	O
plug-in	O
for	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
Navigator	I-Protocol
on	O
the	O
Mac	O
,	O
and	O
announced	O
its	O
plan	O
to	O
support	O
ActiveX	B-Application
on	O
Solaris	B-Application
later	O
that	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Six	O
months	O
and	O
two	O
more	O
beta	O
releases	O
later	O
,	O
there	O
had	O
yet	O
to	O
be	O
any	O
commercially	O
available	O
Macintosh	B-Operating_System
ActiveX	B-Application
plugins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
NCompass	O
Labs	O
in	O
cooperation	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
a	O
plug-in	O
for	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
Navigator	I-Protocol
to	O
support	O
ActiveX	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Documentation	O
for	O
ActiveX	B-Application
core	O
technology	O
resides	O
at	O
The	O
Open	O
Group	O
and	O
may	O
be	O
read	O
for	O
free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
previous	O
efforts	O
to	O
make	O
ActiveX	B-Application
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
,	O
most	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
will	O
not	O
work	O
on	O
all	O
platforms	O
,	O
so	O
using	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
to	O
implement	O
essential	O
functionality	O
of	O
a	O
web	O
page	O
restricts	O
its	O
usefulness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Microsoft	O
made	O
significant	O
effort	O
to	O
push	O
the	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
aspect	O
of	O
ActiveX	B-Application
by	O
way	O
of	O
publishing	O
the	O
API	O
,	O
ultimately	O
the	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
effort	O
failed	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
being	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
or	O
C++	B-Language
and	O
being	O
compiled	O
in	O
Intel	B-Operating_System
x86	I-Operating_System
Assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
making	O
them	O
executable	O
only	O
on	O
Windows	O
machines	O
where	O
they	O
can	O
call	O
the	O
standard	O
Win32	B-Library
APIs	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
dropped	O
ActiveX	B-Application
support	O
from	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Store	I-Application
edition	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
10	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2015	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Edge	I-Application
,	O
the	O
replacement	O
for	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
with	O
no	O
support	O
for	O
ActiveX	B-Application
;	O
this	O
event	O
marked	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
ActiveX	B-Application
technology	O
in	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
web	O
browser	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Edge	I-Application
ships	O
with	O
the	O
"	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
mode	O
"	O
feature	O
,	O
which	O
supports	O
ActiveX	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mozilla	O
ActiveX	B-Application
Control	I-Application
was	O
last	O
updated	O
in	O
late	O
2005	O
,	O
and	O
runs	O
in	O
Firefox	O
1.5	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ScriptActive	O
for	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
Navigator	I-Protocol
last	O
updated	O
in	O
1997	O
can	O
run	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
but	O
requires	O
a	O
special	O
HTML	B-General_Concept
tag	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Running	O
ActiveX	B-Application
scripts	I-Application
in	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
is	O
possible	O
through	O
the	O
utilization	O
of	O
several	O
extensions	O
,	O
including	O
one	O
which	O
emulates	O
an	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
tab	O
within	O
the	O
Chrome	B-Application
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
developed	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
products	O
and	O
software	O
platforms	O
using	O
ActiveX	B-Operating_System
objects	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
(	O
formerly	O
known	O
as	O
ActiveX	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
)	O
is	O
the	O
technology	O
used	O
in	O
Windows	O
to	O
bridge	O
scripting	O
engines	O
like	O
JScript	B-Language
,	O
VB	B-Application
Script	I-Application
or	O
ActivePerl	B-Language
and	O
hosting	O
applications	O
like	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
,	O
Active	B-General_Concept
Server	I-General_Concept
Pages	I-General_Concept
,	O
or	O
third-party	O
applications	O
that	O
implement	O
a	O
scripting	O
host	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
Document	I-Application
is	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
technology	O
that	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
view	O
and	O
edit	O
Microsoft	O
Word	O
,	O
Excel	O
,	O
and	O
PDF	O
documents	O
inside	O
web	O
browsers	O
.	O
</s>
