What is ActiveX Control?
An ActiveX control is a small program used to share information between applications. An ActiveX control can improve Internet surfing by enabling animation and is often compared to Java applets. Microsoft developed the concept in the mid-1990s.
While there is still technically no technology used in modern web development.
ActiveX is (was) a consequence of two other Microsoft technologies, object linking and embedding and the component object model. ActiveX controls refer to a specific way of implementing these technologies.
One limitation of the ActiveX control is that it can only run on Windows. ActiveX controls can also expose a system to viruses and malware by creating an opening through which these malicious programs can be installed.