Apparently this problem has been around for a while and several sites
that used Flash for slideshows on their homepages seem to be using ajax
now. I didn't realize that there was some eolas patent issue that
Microsoft activex was violating. I finally found a site that explained
how to add Flash with a javascript, but am wondering if other webmasters
just decided to remove their Flash content and used ajax or something
else? Given that Microsoft is trying to push Silverlight it appears
suspicious that this embed problem has come up recently. Is this just
another attempt by Microsoft to include issues in their products that
interfere with the products of other companies?

The embed issue was around long before Silverlight came about, and developers
have been working around it for as long.

I am sure some webmasters did decide to switch to AJAX, though I don't know
any. Though, some of the best AJAX developers out there are using Flash
regularly (Google Maps uses Flash while all Google Apps are AJAX driven).

This is not Microsoft interfering with other companies products. It is just
another sign of how idiotic Microsoft is. As far as I'm concerned, ActiveX is
dead (despite the very alive development groups). Standards compliant browsers
do not have the same issues with Flash content that IE does, and the standards
compliant browsers are slowly gaining on the market share lead that IE holds.

Professor wrote:
> Apparently this problem has been around for a while and several sites
> that used Flash for slideshows on their homepages seem to be using ajax
> now. I didn't realize that there was some eolas patent issue that
> Microsoft activex was violating. I finally found a site that explained
> how to add Flash with a javascript, but am wondering if other webmasters
> just decided to remove their Flash content and used ajax or something
> else? Given that Microsoft is trying to push Silverlight it appears
> suspicious that this embed problem has come up recently.

Ajax is much easier to update to none Flash Savvy users. Perhaps going back and
forth to a designer asking him to update a slide show is not something some like
to do.
I wouldn't assume flash it's going to be abandoned because of such a minor
issue, in fact I see with the release of Flash 9 player and now flash 10 and latest
Flash authoring tool out the corner, flash only intensify it's present online.
Papervision is almost everywhere, Audi A5 - A Rhythm of Lines, Sony BRAVIA, Canon EOS 400D,
HBO Voyeur, Nike Sweet Spots and lots more. More and more people are asking specifically
for suites built with this new environment.
Adobe solved the EMBED problem almost as soon as it appeared. Flash not automatically generates
JS file and your object embed tags accordingly. There is also very popular swfobject that
most of us use instead of the Adobe's methods...

> Is this just
> another attempt by Microsoft to include issues in their products that
> interfere with the products of other companies?

The embed did not just effected Flash but many other technologies. On top of it
MS lost rather substantial amount of money in the EMBED patent case so I wouldn't think
it was to suppress one and promote another product.



--
Best Regards

Urami


--
"Never play Leap-Frog with a Unicorn."


<urami>
If you want to mail me - DO NOT LAUGH AT MY ADDRESS
</urami>

May not have to deal with this issue anymore.

Internet Explorer Adds Automatic Component Activation
December 3, 2007

Microsoft has now licensed the technologies from Eolas to be used in Internet
Explorer. Users will no longer have to click on an ActiveX Control in order to
activate it before they can use its interface.

The change will not require any modifications to existing web sites, and
developers will not have to take any actions when designing future sites. After
Internet Explorer is updated all sites that require ?click to activate? will no
longer require the control to be activated.

The Internet Explorer Automatic Component Activation Preview begins in
December 2007 and is available at the Microsoft Download Center. This behavior
will also be added to the IE Cumulative Update in April 2008.

More information can be found at
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/200...-activation-ch
anges-to-ie-activex-update.aspx.