It is indeed interesting when you decide to *chime in*

>But I'm with you - the actual differences are obscure and would benefit from >serious clarification (not just 'they have different suffixes').

I think my response was a little more deep than this.....

But, since you have an aversion to finding these things out on your own, let me help < s >.

The following URL outlines what defines a COM Component:

http://premium.microsoft.com/msdn/library/sdkdoc/wince/consider_4ncc.htm

As for the definition of an ActiveX Control, here is one from the MS website:

An object created using ActiveX™ technology. ActiveX controls usually have an .ocx extension. Remote Data Service can use ActiveX controls to display recordset data on a client Web page.

I think this def sucks by the way...

Here is the URL:

http://premium.microsoft.com/msdn/library/devprods/vintdev/adoref/adcdef01_17.htm
Another good resource is www.activex.com