Editing ActiveX (section)

{{Short description|Software framework by Microsoft introduced in 1996}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox software
| logo = File:ActiveX logo.png
| title = ActiveX
| developer = [[Microsoft]]
| author = [[Microsoft]]
| logo_size = 120px
| released = {{Start date and age|1996}}
| discontinued = Yes
| latest release version = 2013
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]]
| engine = 
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[Classic Mac OS]], [[macOS]]
| platform = [[x86]]
| included with = [[Internet Explorer]], [[Microsoft Office]], [[Microsoft Visual Studio]], and [[Windows Media Player]] etc.
| replaces = [[Object Linking and Embedding|OLE 2.0]] and [[Component Object Model|COM]]
| genre = [[Software framework]]
}}

'''ActiveX''' is a [[deprecation|deprecated]] software framework created by [[Microsoft]] that adapts its earlier [[Component Object Model]] (COM) and [[Object Linking and Embedding]] (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the [[World Wide Web]].<ref name="msdn1">{{cite web|title=ActiveX Controls on the Internet|website=Microsoft Docs|date=12 September 2018|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/mfc/activex-controls-on-the-internet?view=msvc-160|access-date=2021-08-19}}</ref> Microsoft introduced ActiveX in 1996. In principle, ActiveX is not dependent on [[Microsoft Windows]] operating systems, but in practice, most ActiveX controls only run on Windows. Most also require the client to be running on an [[x86]]-based computer because ActiveX controls contain compiled code.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Jerry|title=Activex Programming with Visual C++|year=1997|publisher=Que|isbn=978-0-7897-1030-7}}</ref>

ActiveX is still supported in the "Internet Explorer mode" of [[Microsoft Edge]] (which has a different, incompatible extension system, as it is based on [[Google]]'s [[Chromium (web browser)|Chromium]] project).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/deploy/microsoft-edge-faq|title = Microsoft Edge - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for IT Pros - Edge}}</ref>