<s>
The	O
Active	B-Application
Platform	I-Application
was	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
a	O
development	O
platform	O
released	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
in	O
the	O
90s	O
for	O
creating	O
web	O
applications	O
and	O
delivering	O
them	O
to	O
a	O
PC	O
desktop	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
platform	O
consisted	O
of	O
three	O
parts	O
:	O
ActiveDesktop	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
use	O
push	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
to	O
deliver	O
the	O
web	O
applications	O
to	O
the	O
desktop	O
;	O
ActiveServer	B-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
would	O
provide	O
server	O
side	O
scripting	O
;	O
and	O
ActiveX	B-Application
,	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
technologies	O
created	O
to	O
allow	O
software	O
components	O
on	O
different	O
machines	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
using	O
COM	B-Application
and	I-Application
OLE	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Active	B-Application
Platform	I-Application
strategy	O
started	O
to	O
take	O
shape	O
after	O
the	O
cancellation	O
of	O
another	O
Microsoft	O
project	O
,	O
Blackbird	B-Library
,	O
and	O
as	O
challenges	O
were	O
developing	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
competitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Blackbird	B-Library
promised	O
to	O
make	O
web	O
applications	O
function	O
more	O
like	O
those	O
users	O
were	O
accustomed	O
to	O
on	O
the	O
desktop	O
,	O
by	O
using	O
distributed	O
OLE	B-Operating_System
(	O
Object	B-Operating_System
Linking	I-Operating_System
and	I-Operating_System
Embedding	I-Operating_System
)	O
rather	O
than	O
HTML	B-Language
markup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
soon	O
scrapped	O
,	O
after	O
Microsoft	O
realized	O
that	O
there	O
were	O
performance	O
problems	O
and	O
it	O
became	O
clear	O
that	O
HTML	B-Language
was	O
gaining	O
in	O
popularity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meanwhile	O
,	O
Netscape	O
,	O
Sun	O
,	O
Oracle	O
and	O
IBM	O
(	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Gang	O
of	O
Four	O
"	O
)	O
proposed	O
turning	O
Java	B-Language
into	O
a	O
similar	O
type	O
of	O
distributed	O
object	O
platform	O
that	O
would	O
form	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
an	O
Internet	B-General_Concept
OS	I-General_Concept
which	O
could	O
compete	O
with	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
an	O
OS	O
would	O
rely	O
on	O
web	O
applications	O
that	O
were	O
run	O
through	O
a	O
browser	O
and	O
constructed	O
using	O
Java	B-Language
software	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
the	O
Active	B-Application
Platform	I-Application
at	O
their	O
SiteBuilder	O
conference	O
in	O
October	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	O
Server	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
IIS	B-Application
3.0	O
and	O
included	O
Active	B-General_Concept
Server	I-General_Concept
Pages	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
Distributed	O
Component	B-Application
Object	I-Application
Model	I-Application
(	O
DCOM	O
)	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Transaction	O
Server	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
new	O
message	O
queuing-based	O
middleware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
was	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
technologies	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
already	O
developed	O
for	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
were	O
OLE	B-Operating_System
based	O
controls	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
embedded	O
in	O
web	O
pages	O
,	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
on	O
the	O
desktop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveX	B-Application
became	O
strongly	O
criticized	O
for	O
security	O
problems	O
,	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
later	O
abandoned	O
further	O
development	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveDesktop	O
was	O
never	O
widely	O
used	O
and	O
disappeared	O
in	O
newer	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
,	O
the	O
concept	O
only	O
later	O
being	O
readopted	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	O
Sidebar	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
added	O
as	O
a	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
Dashboard	B-Application
feature	O
in	O
Apple	O
's	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
ActiveServer	B-General_Concept
was	O
later	O
harmonized	O
with	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
platform	I-Application
and	O
a	O
revamped	O
version	O
of	O
ASP	O
became	O
known	O
as	O
ASP.NET	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Active	B-Application
Platform	I-Application
strategy	O
became	O
the	O
center	O
of	O
a	O
United	O
States	O
anti-trust	O
suit	O
against	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
