By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
After allowing Microsoft a virtual monopoly in computer operating systems and Internet browsers, Korea trembles whenever the U.S. software maker tweaks its products.
The latest source of apprehension is whether Microsoft will change the way ActiveX programs, which are used to install software components on Web pages to enable particular functions, run on Internet Explorer 8, the latest version of its Web browser awaiting release next February.
Several domestic media outlets are jumping the gun, claiming that Microsoft will not support ActiveX on IE8 and have forecasted massive disruption for Korean Internet users who rely on the program for online shopping, banking and other financial transactions.
Contrary to the reports, Microsoft, which just released the first beta version of IE8, isn't planning to disable ActiveX, as too many computer users rely on such controls, and instead plans to strengthen ActiveX-related security features.
However, with Microsoft moving to enhance interoperability with other Web browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox and Opera Software's Opera, to eventually allow users to access any site from any browser, IE8 will be greatly reduced in its range of ActiveX support.
The possibility of a disruption is real, and Microsoft is currently working with Korean Internet companies like NHN, the operator of the search engine, Naver, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, and other government agencies and financial institutes to test their sites on IE8.
``Korean sites are particularly reliant on ActiveX and the controls have been overused in some sites," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
``Sites that abuse ActiveX controls, using the technology for other reasons than its original purpose or using the controls unnecessarily, may not function normally on IE8 and would need to adjust their Web coding," she said.
Microsoft is discouraging Korean businesses from overusing ActiveX on Web sites, calling it a technology that will be ``phased out"
ActiveX controls require full access to the Windows operating system, which represents a serious security risk as malicious Web sites can direct the browser to download files that compromises the user's control of the computer.
IE8's enhanced security features will also prevent some ActiveX controls from running on default, which could mean that an adjustment period for Korean Internet sites might be inevitable.
Nearly 95 percent of Korean Internet sites ― even on e-government pages that are designed only to operate on Internet Explorer ― rely on ActiveX, and Microsoft's moves to phase out the programs leave them in an awkward position.
The release of Window Vista last year caused massive disruption here when ActiveX programs used by online shopping malls and Internet banking sites didn't function properly on the latest version of the computer operating system. It took Microsoft and other companies nearly two months to adjust the problem.
When Microsoft halted the distribution of Window XP to markets at the end of last month, to increase Vista sales, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security even set up a special task force to cope with potential ActiveX related problems.