S. Koreans overwhelmingly approve scrapping of ActiveX

[bill]

And now from the it's about time department...

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2014/03/21/75/0501000000AEN20140321007500320F.html [english.yonhapnews.co.kr]

S. Koreans overwhelmingly approve scrapping of ActiveX

South Koreans overwhelmingly approve the scrapping of the ActiveX framework citing it as a hindrance to online transactions, a poll conducted by the lobbying group for the country's large conglomerates said Sunday.

According to a survey carried out on 700 people nationwide, 78.6 percent of respondents said they wanted ActiveX software to be discontinued and replaced by a more up-to-date support system that is not so restrictive.

[Leggewie]

/me knows ActiveX only as a Microsoft technology. Having discontinued to use such products about ten years or so ago I came here wondering if that is indeed the ActiveX the article discusses.

[bill]

You're right. It's Microsoft-only. In the 90s, the Korean government tried to bring their national identity system to the web. In order to participate in e-commerce, among other online activities, you have to use ActiveX in Korea, which is still supported in desktop versions of IE as legacy code. However, newer Microsoft browsers, notably the Windows 8 Metro browser won't support this antiquated API.