Our initial concept for distributing this ActiveX control was via Internet Explorer's built-in ActiveX installer routine -- the blue or yellow banner that appears across the top of a browser window when an ActiveX control is required for a Web page. It seemed slick and non-threatening. Unfortunately, this avenue for installing ActiveX controls is frequently blocked in corporate settings.

As a result, we settled on a conventional executable (.EXE) installer routine, surrounded by a lot of caveats -- check your IE security settings, temporarily disable anti-virus/spyware software, etc. While this isn't as "clean" as we'd like, it is proving effective in creating a successful installation for motivated users.

Conclusion
Like a government project, the cost and time involved in this development effort quickly spiraled upwards. However, the result is a truly useful extension to our old friend the mailto link. We believe that centrally managed, Web-based, email template libraries offer some unique benefits and can emerge as a valuable business tool.

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.