The recent gab-fest on the blogs regarding Microsoft and Macromedia's response to the Eolas patent comedy has prompted me to actually look at the proposed solutions and see what's in store. I'm still laughing.
Here's a screenshot of what you'll see with the IE update in place:
You get this silly pop-up that doesn't even tell you what's going on.. just "Press OK to continue loading the content of this page." This happens for each and every element on the page that is invoked by an EMBED, OBJECT or APPLET tag. And it happens every time you reload the page.
The pop-up frenzy apparently neutralises the Eolas patent by ensuring that embedded multimedia content is never automatically introduced, the visitor being notified of every element before it is displayed. So what's the solution!? How do you work around this nightmare? You're going to laugh.
There are two alternatives:
- Basically, don't offer any PARAMs in your OBJECT tag that refer to external data. This is a subtle by-pass of the brillant leap of insight our friends at Eolas came up with, namely multimedia that communicates with a server. There's even a new DATA attribute proposed so that you can pass in data inline.
- Or my absolute favourite -- just use Javascript to write out the reference to the OBJECT, EMBED or APPLET tag. The javascript needs to be in a separate document and simply included onto the page. This bypasses the need for the pop-up 'cos you're now using an external Javascript library to run your multi-media which apparently again sidesteps the patent.
I'm hoping to wake up to find it's all an elaborate joke. Here we have a patent on the concept of a plug-in -- a conept mind, not an architecture or a code library or anything in the least bit inventive. A concept that couldn't be more obvious if you beat a 6-inch nail into someones forehead. A patent to which there is crystal clear prior art as outlined by the makers of Lotus Notes. And to defeat the patent we simply have to bastardise the HTML -- it's a world gone mad.
Proposed web developer remedies are outlined in the following document on MSDN: Changes to the Default Handling of ActiveX Controls by Internet Explorer
You can play-test the pre-release bits of the proposed IE6 update (due out in the new year via Windows Update) by downloading a standalone version from MSDN. It's a developer release so its not going to irreversibly alter your local IE setup.
Looks like the "mothership" is developing a bunch of tools to supplement the Studio suite and help with updating your code. Plus I bet the auto-generated code utilities of Studio products will get revamped to accommodate the change in best practice. You can get the full scoop at the Active Content Developer Center
Macromedia have set up a notification service plus you can put your name down to get on the public beta of the tools.
Posted by modius at 12:36 PM | Permalink
Trackback: http://blog.daemon.com.au/cgi-bin/dmblog/mt-tb.cgi/175
Bastardizing of HTML? What else is new in web design...
Mad goofy, but to me, most of you HTML peeps can get around this mug. The JS solution sounds ... sound enough.
This is so dumb, yo... I know you know, but yours was the only blog title that actually caused me to click and investigate the aftermath of this story as it unfolds. wtf. Does EOLAS know how lame it is? All it does is negatively affect millions of people's jobs worldwide, as well as users for those who are goobs. Does Microsoft care or is this a temp fix till they pay or offer a new solution in Longhorn?
Insanity. You think if I started doing drugs, it would make sense? Maybe I should just go back to Photoshop...
Posted by: JesterXL on October 7, 2003 02:44 PM
This is indeed a very ridiculous problem and solution. Incredible that writing HTML with JavaScript is legit whereas just writing the HTML is not. Funny. People without JavaScript on are either going to be happy about this or pissed.
I guess that means that IE will be the browser of choice, for the meantime, for the JavaScript-less. Then again, if those poor souls turned off JavaScript they may well have also turned off ActiveX and the IE workaround won't work either, no?
Posted by: Dennis Spaag on October 8, 2003 06:03 AM
We should all send email to Eolas
or did I mean Ebola and encourage people to boycott them. Poor Microsoft they seem to be everybodies soft touch. With all the lawyers in USA and that you can be sued for giving someone else a cold. Nothing surprises us these days. Madness and more madness this will keep us on our toes and to the most hated company in the world Ebola no I mean Eolas.
Brian Lawrence
PS Did I use a plug-in here or am I going to be sued? Could we not call them inplugs and by pass this madness.
Posted by: Brian Lawrence on December 16, 2003 02:14 AM