IE competitors mull ActiveX alternative

[Mac Reporter]

Everybody who is anybody who is not Microsoft has joined forces to create a new way of running software applications inside a Web browser.

At stake is the future of Web "plug-ins," third-party programs such as Macromedia's Flash animation software that operate within browsers. Microsoft's rivals want to enhance plug-ins to match capabilities available in Internet Explorer through Microsoft's ActiveX technology.

The Mozilla Foundation, Opera Software and Apple Computer--all browser makers--said on Wednesday that they have teamed up with plug-in vendors Sun Microsystems, Adobe Systems and Macromedia to revise the way plug-ins run in non-Microsoft browsers.

Read more at CNET News.com.