Today, Microsoft pushed out an update for Internet Explorer that will change the way the Web browser displays certain pages. Web developers who have not tested their Web sites with the update may be in for a surprise.

After the update, IE users will not be able to directly interact with Microsoft ActiveX controls loaded by the "APPLET," "EMBED" or "OBJECT" elements in Web pages. This means that certain parts of a Web page, such as a Macromedia Flash animation or QuickTime movie, might need an extra click of the mouse to start.

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nrg edit: If you are wondering about how the 'security measurement' looks like after the ActiveX-update:


There are several workarounds available:
http://blog.deconcept.com/flashobject
http://www.bobbyvandersluis.com/ufo/

The Active Content Developer Center by Macromedia gives you more indepth information: http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/activecontent

Do not forget to update your sites!

[Fakepilot]

Microsoft.....

[n00ge]

There are better options than what Macromedia offers, and they are much better with accessibility and SEO. UFO (http://www.bobbyvandersluis.com/ufo/) and FlashObject (http://blog.deconcept.com/flashobject/) are both great ways to check for flash version, offer alternate content without a refresh, and provide alternate content for non-flash/non-javascript users.

[rcarroll]

hey guys.

XMLHttpRequest is created via ActiveX in Javascript. WILL is affect this.

Microsoft SUCKS big time. Why do this. Licence fees i know but its not like they cant afford it.

[moloko5]

I don't this affects windows 2000 users for some reason. I remember reading something to this effect a while back, and if I do a windows update there is nothing to be updated.
Or perhaps it only affects USA users of IE? After all, the EOLA$ patent is only applicable in the States, the rest of the world can - quite rightly - ignore it.
When will the US wake up and realise how stupid software patents are??!!

[NewEzra]

Originally posted by rcarroll
hey guys.

XMLHttpRequest is created via ActiveX in Javascript. WILL is affect this.

Microsoft SUCKS big time. Why do this. Licence fees i know but its not like they cant afford it.

No, this doesn't effect XMLHttpRequest.

It's not really Microsofts fault. The concept of ActiveX was patented by http://www.eolas.com/ and they are now sticking it to Microsoft.

[Anik]

that looks bad !

[v1q]

jesus christ....

[subnero]

the fixes don't actually work, have you tried them? the tool tip message to activate still shows

[nrg]

Originally posted by subnero
the fixes don't actually work, have you tried them? the tool tip message to activate still shows

We use Deconcept's FlashObject here on Ultrashock. It works fine.

[Smarv01]

i have also used Deconcepts FlashObject method and it works really well.

[subnero]

did you test with the update microsoft pushed out yesterday? i have it installed and your site is still showing the tooltip message for me. that's true of all flash pieces on all sites, i think microsoft screwed up. tested on another machine that has ie 7 and works fine, puts into question which direction microsoft is moving.

[subnero]

basically from my expierence there right now there doesn't seem to be any difference with the latest update push and what is available from windows update. in other words updating pages to use scripted object/embed as opposed to inline object embed doesn't give you anything of value a user still needs to do the extra click before being able to interact with the flash piece. this may be different with earlier versions of the ie 'patch' and i'm noticing a difference in ie7

[subnero]

btw these are the knowledge base ids for yesterdays auto update in case anyone is interested;

kb912812
kb911567
kb908531
kb911562
kb890830

[Tcoz]

It's not actually "now" that Eolas (evidently) rightly demanded compensation from Microsoft (who should pay it). This lawsuit is 2 years old.

I find it VERY hard to believe, with their current Expressions and WPF offerings, etc., that there is no strategy to this. It hits Flash developers primarily (really who else out there is using a widely distributed ActiveX player for general web content), and just who is Microsoft aiming their sites at in February...

I'm sure you'll see it sooner or later..."standard web browser technologies like AJAX were not, and can not, be effected by such issues".

And guess who's pushing AJAX for all it's worth...

...what can I say, I'm suspicious. But not without reason.

The change isn't devastating, sure we can all implement the fix easily. I'm sure they'll point it out as an "example" of some kind.

[subnero]

i don't think there is a fix, one that i haven't seen proven yet based on yesterday's ie patch update. (not previous ones or ie 7)

[nrg]

subnero, I've waited with Ultrashock to use the FlashObject by Deconcept after I got that upgrade from IE to see with my own eyes what would happen, although there are still blogs claiming that the Active-X update was postponed. Without the FlashObject solution on Ultrashock, you get what you see in the screenshot posted above with this lame 'security upgrade'. The click issue is gone now after I 'patched' our site.

This is totally unbelievable news to me. I've created hundreds of sites in the past, and the first 'old' clients are already getting on my nerves.

Who do I send an invoice to for my wasted time? Eolas.com? Or maybe Adobe/Macromedia, for not updating their software in time in order to provide an automated fix for this 'issue' and save the developer some extra headaches.

[subnero]

ok i just did windows update again on machine i updated yesterday, it seems microsoft has fixed the problem. scripted solutions now seem to be working, i hope this was just a blip on the radar, all is well nothing to see here

hear you about wasted time, wish we could bill to eolas this is pretty much completely ridiculuous when looking at it through sane eyes

[skah]

I just installed yesterday updates from MS (IE6) and didn't notice any changes on sites whit flash/shockwave objects...

[Pixware]

This one is a hard knock out from microsoft... I have been expecting such a move since some time ago. Licenses suck. This kind of things is why I really love open software.

Chris

[delpadre]

This is just great, nothing better to do.

[Juxtaflo]

Has anyone seen anything from Microsoft themselves explaining exactly when and where this update is going to take place? I looked on their site and found no mention of it.

[Goten]

since april 11 is updating all IE via windows update...

[rcarroll]

Theres one answer to all this my friends.

Yes thats right: go get her, its a fantastic piece of software. Possibly the best opensource software ever.

Mozilla Firfox

www.mozilla.com

that tip is for everyone

By the way, MS wont pay the licece yet they big enough that they can afford it. So i think theres more to it. What about sparkle (WPF/Avalon). Hmmm. do i see something sneeky going on here. Will sparkle be integrated as active content when it goes main stream. hmmm i tend to think not.

Shame on you MS and Eloas. tut tut

[delpadre]

I just used Deconcept's FlashObject on our site and It works great.

[n00ge]

I think it's good this happened. More people will use techniques like UFO or FlashObject and provide better alternative content since it is quite easy. This has always been a big problem in the flash community. I also enjoy seeing Microsoft create more problems for their users and turn them to Firefox (hehe...)
www.getfirefox.com

[v-x]

hmmm...two days now i'm making my life miserable browsing with IE and still i can't see the problem...and i can't fight something that i cant see

[Tcoz]

Same. I don't see the issue. I explicitly patched my home and work machines and nothing is different. And I can't agree that this is a positive way to push the Flash community to offer alternate content.

Microsoft is the patent violator here, they engaged and perpetuated the illegality. As the law would have it, they are responsible for your wasted time. Sue them. It is undoubtedly for this reason they are not talking about it.

However, keep in mind that the wording as interpreted by, for instance, the W3C, implies that currently, all browsers permitting embedding content the indicated way are in violation. This means, potentially...EVERY web browser will be forced to make this change (the W3C does actually post that this is "potentially" and "may" be reality soon).

What is absolutely disgusting is the industry's lack of response. This should have been PAGE ONE on the Microsoft site for months, with status updates, as well as on the the MM/Adobe site, and the Detection Kit should have been immediately updated prior to the patch.

We all got screwed on this one. No customer is going to pay me to reimplement their Flash pages, they are simply going to tell me that a recent Windows patch broke it and it needs to be fixed. If I refuse, they'll get it done somewhere else and I will have hurt my relationships. I am going to proactively approach whatever customers I can reach and provide them with the fix, but that doesn't mean that MS/IE, due to illegal practices, is costing me that time.

This was handled poorly by all parties, and the developers are paying the price. Choose your technologies wisely. Thank god I steer my customers away from IE and ActiveX browser technologies.

Oh yeah...and what else..."security update". Pfft. The only thing this secures is Bill Gate's patent insurance account.

[Codemonkey]

ha, well said. I agree with everything you said.

i charge my clients ... cost $ to keep up with whatever...

it's not OUR fault!

[g3ak]

I am seeing what subnero reports. Going to see if I can do another update to see if that fixes the issue.

Doing an update seemed to fix the issue when using FlashObject, one site of mine with just document.write (the old Moock FPI style) doesn't seem to work even though it should based on the Adobe info.

[Markosef]

You know what would be cool, instead of making scripts of flash to work with new update, it would be cool that whole flash community use script that urges useres to change browser if they want normal web surfing

[jennyfur]

/cry

A client of mine just found this today. Since I use Firefox, I hadn't noticed it yet. What a freakin nightmare. Thank you MS for making my day miserable.

[Crash0]

Im sorry but I have to take advantage of this opportunity to say "GET A MAC!" hehe ;-)

[jennyfur]

There's still people on Macs that use IE though, so that doesn't completely solve things either.

[khamstra]

I'm sorry but the comments of "Get a Mac" and "Use FireFox" really do not apply here. Unless your site is "firefoxusersonmacsonly.com" you are going to have more IE on Windows users than anything else (for non-tech sites).

You have to develop with the user in mind, not your personal interests. Me buying a Mac will only cure my problems, not the thousands (i wish) of people who visit my site.

I'm just happy there is a way around it. In all actuality implementing something like "Flash Object" mentioned above will make your site better overall.

[FabAfrikan]

Life just keeps getting harder and harder.

[jennyfur]

Has anybody been able to modify the code for the Flash Player Express Install to work with this new IE fix? I don't know javascript well enough, I haven't the slightest idea what to change to get this working since it looks totally different than the examples given on the javascript workaround page. Help!

[Andy-M]

I just updated this morning and found that several of the "work-arounds" do not work anymore.

The FlashObject method does not seem to work anymore. In fact I haven't found a work-around that seems to work yet. The Adobe/Macromedia site uses their JS work-around but even that's not working now.

So basically all of the time I've spent patching up all the Flash sites that I've done do not work still.

I'll see if I can find something that works and if I can figure out a decent work-around I'll post it up on Ultrashock.

[midnite]

i patched up my client's sites with the UFO one, they seem to be working ok still. Try that one.