Editing ActiveX (section)

==Platform support==
In October 1996, Microsoft released a beta version of the ActiveX [[Software Development Kit]] (SDK) for the [[Macintosh operating systems|Macintosh]], including a plug-in for [[Netscape Navigator]] on the Mac, and announced its plan to support ActiveX on [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] later that year.<ref>{{cite news |title=MacOS will get access to ActiveX |first=Tom |last=Quinlan |newspaper=[[InfoWorld]] |date=28 October 1996 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NToEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48}}</ref> Six months and two more beta releases later, there had yet to be any commercially available Macintosh ActiveX plugins.<ref>{{cite magazine
 |url         = http://www.macweek.com/mw_1115/nw_activex.html
 |title       = After 6 months, ActiveX passive in Mac market
 |date        = 11 April 1997
 |volume      = 11
 |issue       = 15
 |magazine   = MacWEEK
|first1=Joanna 
|last1=Pearlstein
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/19970412151433/http://www.macweek.com/mw_1115/nw_activex.html
 |archive-date = 12 April 1997
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

In 1997, NCompass Labs in cooperation with Microsoft released a plug-in for [[Netscape Navigator]] to support ActiveX.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_jDOuO-4ECOUC|quote=ncompass activex plugin.|title=Computerworld|date=1997-04-07|publisher=IDG Enterprise|language=en|chapter=Playing with plug-ins}}</ref>

Documentation for ActiveX core technology resides at The Open Group and may be read for free.<ref>{{cite web|title=Documentation for ActiveX Core Technology|url=https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9875999899/toc.htm|publisher=The Open Group|access-date=1 May 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430223442/https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9875999899/toc.htm|archive-date=30 April 2020|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Despite Microsoft's previous efforts to make ActiveX cross-platform, most ActiveX controls would not and will not work on all platforms, so using ActiveX controls to implement essential functionality of a web page restricts its usefulness. The government of [[South Korea]], in a software-agnostic gravitating move, started in circa 2015 to remove the technology from their public websites in order to make their website accessible to more platforms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2015/03/03/0200000000AEN20150303003300315.html|title=Seoul poised to remove ActiveX software from public websites|date=3 March 2015|publisher=Yohap News Agency|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322231129/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2015/03/03/0200000000AEN20150303003300315.html|archive-date=22 March 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

While Microsoft made significant efforts to push the cross-platform aspect of ActiveX by way of publishing the API, ultimately the [[Cross-platform software|cross-platform]] effort failed due to the ActiveX controls being written in [[C (programming language)|C]] or [[C++]] and being compiled in [[X86|Intel x86]] [[Assembly language]], making them executable only on Windows machines where they can call the standard [[Windows API|Win32]] APIs.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/1996/11/will-activex-threaten-national-security/|title=Will ActiveX Threaten National Security?|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2018-10-15|language=en-US}}</ref>

Microsoft dropped ActiveX support from the [[Windows Store]] edition of Internet Explorer 10 in [[Windows 8]]. In 2015, Microsoft released [[Microsoft Edge Legacy|Microsoft Edge [Legacy]]], the replacement for Internet Explorer, with no support for ActiveX; this event marked the end of ActiveX technology in Microsoft's web browser development.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computerworld.com/article/2920892/web-browsers/microsoft-nixes-activex-add-on-technology-in-new-edge-browser.html|title=Microsoft nixes ActiveX add-on technology in new Edge browser|first=Gregg|last=Keizer|date=10 May 2015|work=[[Computerworld]]|publisher=[[IDG]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514023235/http://www.computerworld.com/article/2920892/web-browsers/microsoft-nixes-activex-add-on-technology-in-new-edge-browser.html|archive-date=14 May 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[Microsoft Edge|Microsoft [New] Edge]], however, includes an "Internet Explorer mode" feature, which supports ActiveX.