Microsoft to Roll Back the Clock on ActiveX

Microsoft is making what’s old, new again, thanks to a plan announced this week to revert to an earlier way its Internet Explorer browser handles ActiveX (define) controls.

In April 2006, the company changed the behavior of how IE dealt with ActiveX controls as part of its legal wrangling with patent firm Eolas Technologies. According to plans unveiled this week, however, coming months will see Microsoft turn back the clock and make ActiveX control activation behave as it did prior to 2006.

The move will again streamline ActiveX control activation for Internet Explorer users. Currently, ActiveX controls that are loaded directly into HTML using the