SP2 vs. the plug-ins

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ActiveX Issues

Here's my experience with ActiveX on WinXP SP1. After getting infected with IE toolbar malware, I set IE Internet security zone to 'High', which disabled all ActiveX, and took some other proactive measures on my PC as well. For the few regular sites that I used which required ActiveX, I manually added them to the IE white list. When I was in the market for a new vehicle, I went to some of the major manufacturers' sites (which I trust) and since they almost all use some sort of ActiveX-based function (like Flash), I had to manually add them to IE's white list and refresh the page to get them to display. This was a major hassle.

Here are some of the issues that I see with ActiveX:

1) Most users either don't know about or don't want to have the hassle of whitelisting all their websites.
2) Competition forces the vehicle manufacturer website designers to use some sort of ActiveX-based function in order to spice up their sites, even though they surely know that ActiveX in general is, let's face it, dangerous.
3) If someone is in desperate need of some information that is only contained on a site that uses some sort of ActiveX-based function, they will usually whitelist that site, even if it is unknown to them, and take the risk of getting an IE infection from it.

My ultimate solution to the whole mess was to just start using an alternate browser, which I am VERY happy with, since among other things I do not have to do any whitelisting (except for cookies). For most people, though, SP2 will be their only known solution to the ActiveX problem. Time will tell if it is both a satisfactory user experience AND reduces malware; a tough balancing act it seems.

Posted by: gas_z   Posted on: 09/03/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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