Functioning Mechanisms of ActiveX for Animation
ActiveX, a software framework developed by Microsoft in 1996, revolutionised the way interactive content was embedded into web pages and desktop applications. Based on the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM), ActiveX allowed reusable software components to be embedded and run in different programming environments in a language-independent way.
The History of ActiveX
Created in 1996 as part of Microsoft's push into internet and multimedia technologies, ActiveX built on the company's COM technology to enable integration of different programming languages and components. Primarily used in Internet Explorer, it enabled the embedding of interactive content like videos, animations, and complex user interface widgets directly into web pages. ActiveX controls were widely used to extend browser capabilities during the late 1990s and early 2000s, before being largely superseded by newer web standards for security and compatibility reasons.
Functions of ActiveX
ActiveX offered several key functions. It allowed component reuse, enabling software developers to create components that communicated and functioned across programs and languages. It also supported embedded controls, such as video players, interactive animations, and GUI controls, into web pages and applications. ActiveX supported scripting languages like JScript and VBScript to interact with components dynamically in Windows environments. The framework included document management and server-side solutions.
Using ActiveX to Securely Play Flash Movies and Animated GIFs on Web Pages
ActiveX controls could be used in Internet Explorer to embed Adobe Flash Player ActiveX components that played Flash movies securely within web pages. Flash Player ActiveX was a plugin facilitating Flash content playback in IE browsers, functioning by embedding Flash runtime as an ActiveX control. For security, managing ActiveX controls involved restricting controls to trusted sources and signed certificates to prevent malicious controls, using browser security settings to prompt users before running ActiveX components, and implementing strict permissions and sandboxing to limit the ActiveX control's ability to affect the host system.
Animated GIFs, on the other hand, require no special ActiveX control; they are native image formats supported by browsers including Internet Explorer.
Caveats and Modern Context
ActiveX is Windows and Internet Explorer specific and poses security risks due to its deep OS integration and vulnerabilities in unsigned controls. Modern web development has moved to HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript-based solutions to play Flash-like content and animations, as Flash and ActiveX are deprecated and disabled in most modern browsers. Adobe Flash Player itself reached end-of-life and is unsupported, so secure use today mostly involves legacy systems or virtualization.
Conclusion
In summary, ActiveX originated as a Microsoft framework for embedding interactive components and was historically used to play Flash movies via the Flash Player ActiveX plugin inside Internet Explorer. While it supported multimedia and animations securely by allowing control over permissions and trusted certificates, it is now obsolescent due to security and compatibility issues, replaced by modern web standards. Animated GIFs, being standard image formats, do not require ActiveX but can be displayed directly by browsers.
To avoid ActiveX security headaches, using a different Web browser like Safari, Firefox, or Opera that doesn't accept ActiveX controls is a simple solution. For more information about ActiveX, Internet technology, and related topics, check out related HowStuffWorks articles and other great links provided. With the release of Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft disabled all but the most common ActiveX controls and improved the user notification process before downloading new controls. Digital signature certificates can be used to help with deciding whether an ActiveX control is legitimate or a Trojan Horse for nasty code, but many users don't check for them or understand their meaning.
Data-and-cloud-computing technologies, such as Adobe Flash Player ActiveX, were integrated with ActiveX to enable secure playback of Flash movies and animations on web pages within the Internet Explorer environment. ActiveX, a technology primarily used in the late 1990s and early 2000s, supports various programming languages and components, making it a significant element in the history of software technology.
