I tell you, Rohit, you're on the right track here: automatability is
what the world needs to make intranets more interactive. Keep on
plugging, brother.
-- Adam
---http://www.pcmag.com/miller/mm960903.htm
Will choosing "Web view" of file folders in Internet Explorer 4.0 allow users to see ActiveX content in addition to static HTML pages?
Internet Explorer 4.0 isn't completed yet, so it's hard to know for sure. Microsoft has hinted at giving users the ability to associate an HTML page with any folder; these HTML pages could, of course, have any of the features supported by Internet Explorer. My guess is that IE 4.0 will let you have Java code, ActiveX controls, and VBScript or JScript capabilities in "Web view," but thus far, I've only seen this work in product demos.
Will it be possible to use ActiveX scripting and controls to administer Windows-based workstations and servers?
Our Labs folks tell me ActiveX code can do just about anything. If the user viewing the page has sufficient rights, he or she can administer servers and other workstations. In fact, ActiveX has some particular advantages for system administration: It supports Windows NT security facilities. ActiveX also supports distributed COM, so some of the controls on the administration page can run on systems anywhere on the network.
Will there be an ActiveX/COM/OLE automation interface to Windows NT security, NT Event logging, NT performance monitoring, and other NT system services?
Microsoft has said there will be an interface to Windows NT security. I'm not sure about event logging or performance monitoring in particular, but I don't see any reason why there wouldn't be--at least to the extent to which normal Win32 applications have such access.
Do you think ActiveX will become widely used in corporate intranets?
Yes. Many companies already have applications written in Visual Basic or involving OLE controls (now known as Active X controls), and putting these applications into an intranet operation is pretty straightforward. It's certainly easier than rewriting all of the controls in Java. Plus, some of the complaints about ActiveX--such as the large size of today's controls, for example--are less important if you have a really fast connection, which most internal networks do.
Thus far, most of the "intranets" I've seen involve mainly straight HTML pages with an occasional database lookup, but this will change, and intranets will become more interactive, providing such capabilities as editable expense account reporting.
--- adam@cs.caltech.eduNo reason why your great-grandchildren shouldn't be able to boot up your program and play a game of chess and interact with you even though you've been dead for a hundred years. If you want to immortalize, digitize. -- Timothy Leary