May 30, 2004

Make Your Web Site Work with XP SP2

According to Microsoft, its Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) provides "an enhanced security infrastructure that defends against viruses, worms, and hackers, along with increased manageability and control for IT professionals and an improved experience for users". Microsoft has published detailed information on the new security features in Windows XP SP2 that affect Internet Explorer, ActiveX controls, file downloads, pop-up windows etc. It explains what developers need to do to be prepared for the changes to Internet Explorer

ActiveX controls are blocked in the following cases:

• A Web site navigating to a page that attempts to instantiate an ActiveX control.
• Navigation that would result in an ActiveX installation prompt.
• A qualified previous version of the ActiveX control is not already installed on the system.

File downloads are blocked in the following cases:

• A Web site attempting to navigate to a resource.
• Navigation that would result in the display of a file download dialog box.
• User not initiating navigation with a mouse click or key press.

Pop-up windows

Any window opened automatically from a script (with the exception of createPopup() method), Modal and modeless dialogs and DHTML elements overlapping content on the page will be blocked by Internet Explorer. CreatePopup() method is restricted to allow only one pop-up window per page.

A pop-up window that opens as a direct result of a user action (e.g., clicking a page element) will not be blocked.

How to Make Your Web Site Work with Windows XP Service Pack 2

Via SitePoint Blog