Changes Coming In Internet Explorer For Active Components

Microsoft originally released Internet Explorer with support for Active X controls, and they are not automatically activated thus requiring the user to "Click To Activate" in order to interact with the component. These components are embedded into a web page and currently you still need to "Click To Activate" these controls, In an update coming as part of an April 2008 cumulative update for Internet Explorer (all Windows platforms) the company will be changing the way Active components are handled.

If you don’t recall, in April 2006,Microsoft made a change to how Internet Explorer handled embedded controls used on some webpages. Some sites required users to “click to activate” before they could interact with the control. Microsoft has now licensed the technologies from Eolas Technologies inc, removing the “click to activate” requirement in Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer Without Automatic Component Activation                                                Internet Explorer With Automatic Component Activation (Preview Release)

As you can see in the above example, you need to "Click To Activate" the flash control (or flash header) on that specific web site. The functionality in Internet Explorer will be changed in April 2008 and you will no longer need to "Click To Activate" active x controls in Internet Explorer.  This change will require no modifications to existing web pages, and no new actions for developers creating new pages. We are simply reverting to the old behavior. Once Internet Explorer is updated, all pages that currently require “click to activate” will no longer require the control to be activated. They’ll just work.

You can preview the changes today by downloading the Internet Explorer Automatic Component Activation Preview. You can download the preview for the following Operating systems.

Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer for Windows XP x64 Edition (KB945007) package now. 

Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 64-bit Itanium Edition (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (KB945007) package now.

Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP x64 Edition (KB945007) package now.

Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 64-bit Itanium Edition (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation Preview for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (KB945007) package now. 

Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista (KB945007) package now.

Download the IE Automatic Component Activation update for Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista x64 Edition (KB945007) package now.

Note: This blog entry was originally posted on thewindowsblog.net. View original post