Editing Active Desktop (section)

==History==
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Windows98.png|thumb|240px|The Channel Bar, appearing in [[Windows 98]], is an Active Desktop item]] -->

The introduction of the Active Desktop marked Microsoft's attempt to capitalize on the [[push technology]] trend led by [[PointCast (dotcom)|PointCast]].<ref>{{cite news|volume=5 |issue=3 |last1=Kelly |first=Kevin |last2=Wolf |first2=Gary |title=Push! |magazine=Wired |access-date=2014-09-13 |date=March 1997 |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.03/ff_push_pr.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013012158/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.03/ff_push_pr.html |archive-date=October 13, 1999 }}</ref> 

Active Desktop allowed embedding a number of "[[Active Channel|channels]]" on the user's computer [[desktop metaphor|desktop]] that could provide continually-updated information such as web pages, without requiring the user to open dedicated programs such as a [[web browser]]. Example uses include overview over news headlines and stock quotes. However, its most notable feature was that it allowed [[Motion JPEG]]s and animated [[GIF]]s to animate correctly when set as the desktop wallpaper.

Active Desktop debuted as part of an Internet Explorer 4.0  preview release in July 1997,<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0746-8121| issue = 673| pages = 11–12| last = Karpinski| first = Richard| title = Microsoft Tunes in Active Channel| work = Communications Week| date = 1997-07-21}}</ref> and came out with the launch of the 4.0 browser in September that year.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Markoff| first = John| title = Microsoft vs. Netscape: The Border War Heats Up| work = The New York Times| date = 1997-09-29 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/29/business/microsoft-vs-netscape-the-border-war-heats-up.html}}</ref> for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, as a feature of the optional [[Windows Desktop Update]] offered to users during the upgrade installation. While the Windows Desktop Update is commonly referred to (improperly) as Active Desktop itself, it is actually an entire Windows shell upgrade from v4.0 to v4.71, or v4.72, with numerous changes to the Windows interface, resulting in an appearance and functionality level nearly indistinguishable from the then yet-to-be-released Windows 98. Features include the option to allow uppercase filenames (the old v4.0 desktop would forcibly display uppercase filenames in title case), configurable one-click hot-tracking file selection, customizable per-folder HTML display settings, QuickLaunch mini-buttons on the Taskbar next to the Start button, upgraded Start Menu allowing drag and drop item reordering and allowing right-click context menus for item renaming, etc. With the update, Windows Explorer featured an Address bar in which Internet addresses can be entered and seamlessly browsed.

Since [[Windows XP]], if a non-BMP image is used as [[Windows Desktop]] wallpaper, Windows will convert non-BMP image to BMP image in background.

Active Desktop never attained any significant degree of popularity,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11036-010-0239-5 |issn=1383-469X |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=845–852 |last1=Deinert |first1=Florian |last2=Magedanz |first2=Thomas |s2cid=29163522 |title=Introducing Widget-based IMS Client Applications |journal=Mobile Networks and Applications |date=December 2010}}</ref> as its drawbacks included high use of system resources and reduced system stability{{Citation needed|reason=If the journal reference explicitly says resource demands and instability caused its failure, that reference should be moved HERE.|date=December 2018}}. The component was retained in [[Windows XP]]<ref>{{cite news |issn=1093-4170 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=73 |last=Phelps |first=Alan |title=Online: Use Active Desktop to enliven Windows XP |work=Smart Computing in Plain English |date=April 2002}}</ref> but was replaced by a feature named [[Windows Sidebar]] in [[Windows Vista]].<ref>{{cite news |issn=0888-8507 |volume=25 |issue=7 |pages=53 |last=Miller |first=Michael J. |title=The Truth About Vista |work=PC Magazine |date=2006-04-25}}<!--|access-date=2016-02-07 --></ref> Sidebar in turn was called [[Windows Desktop Gadgets]] in [[Windows 7]], which also allows components to be added to the desktop, but it was also discontinued due to security issues. [[Windows 8]] (also [[Windows 8.1|8.1]] and [[Windows 10|10]]) partially replaced their functionality with "[[Start menu#Windows 8|live tiles]]" in the Start screen (or Start menu). Finally, such functionalities have now been partially replaced with Widgets in [[Windows 11]]. Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit is the most recent Microsoft operating system to support Active Desktop. It appears that the 64-bit version of Windows XP no longer supports Active Desktop. However, it still provides the option to display Web pages and channels built with Microsoft's [[Channel Definition Format]] (CDF) on the desktop.

The HTML displaying capabilities are now mainly used for creating original wallpapers and adding search boxes to the desktop. For example, a user could copy the following code to display Wikipedia's search-box on the desktop:
<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<form
    action="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search"
    id="searchform"
    name="searchform">
  <input
      accesskey="f"
      id="searchInput"
      name="search"
      type="text"
      value="" />
  <input
      id="searchGoButton"
      name="go"
      type="submit"
      value="Go" />
</form>
</syntaxhighlight>