After problems caused by legal differences regarding Internet Explorer patent which Microsoft had with University of California and Eolas Technologies, the Redmond giant announced new updates.

In this case, Microsoft Internet Explorer users will be able to interact with Microsoft ActiveX loaded by the APPLET, EMBED or OBJECT elements, only after activating their users interfaces. The update was first made available for the developers on the MSDN Web site. The general public has now access to it as an optional download via Windows Update and Microsoft’s Download Center Website.

The changes made to the IE may affect the look of certain sites. Microsoft advise the Web developers to include the changes in their work, otherwise the consumers may have to make an extra click in order to get a certain content.

While Microsoft representatives expect these changes to have little impact on consumers they also expect a download growth for the update which is available for IE 6 on Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1.