Information Gift

EOLAS is (sorta) Now

Today Microsoft released their long-awaited and originally much feared update to the way ActiveX controls render in Internet Explorer. ActiveX is the technology IE employs to embed interactive content such as Flash, Shockwave, Java and video, and the change is instigated by a long-running feud with Eolas Technologies who claim their patent covers such applications.

In order to get around this patent dispute, updated IE 6 browsers will require user interaction before running embedded content, unless that embedded content is dynamically written-in using VBScript or JScript, Microsoft's implementation of Javascript. Macromedia/Adobe has information and an online presentation that will run you through the user experience [direct link to Flash presentation].

Where the original patch threatened by Microsoft presented quite an obtrusive experience, the final approach described in Adobe's presentation shows there's much less to be concerned about, at least for Flash content, and if you've followed the practice of plug-in detection and degradation via an external .js script, nothing at all.

However, if your sites haven't followed this practice, then you should take a look at Microsoft's known issues technote, which describes issues with transparent Flash content, popular with superstitial advertising, issues with overlapping DHTML menus, controls that prompt before loading and CSS techniques to hide controls. Issues with 64-bit machines and Google's Toolbar are also documented.

Interestingly and importantly, Microsoft appears to have categorized the update as an optional install. Users who select Express Install will not get the update -- you have to intentionally install the update using the Custom management method. It remains to be seen if OEM installs will ship with the update enabled, or if future "critical" security updates will include the Eolas fix.