What exactly does COM mean? What does it stand for and what does it do? COM in this article means Component Object Model and it is a Microsoft software architecture that can be called up to perform certain functions during the course of running a program or application as it is called in the Windows environment.

COM is an acronym for Component Object Model. This is a software architecture developed by Microsoft Corporation and is used to define a certain structure used to build program routines, known as 'objects' that can be called up for execution in a windows based environment. COM was first built into Windows 95 and Windows NT.4.0. many parts of Windows operating system and some applications developed by Microsoft's developers have built in COM objects. Com Objects are stored in the registry of a system and are one of the things that need to be cleaned with registry cleaner.

So What Exactly Does COM Do?

Com is that part of a program that provides an interface between objects. A counterpart DCOM or Distributed COM allows the objects to run remotely. COM is implemented in different ways. Objects can be large small or medium and are written in different programming languages to perform any kind of processing of a file or code. Programs call on objects whenever the program needs the services of the object and the Common Object Model acts as the interface between the program and the object. COM will link common objects to different programs that need them. That is why even though the program may be uninstalled the common object will not be removed. This fills up the registry and slows down a PC. A computer registry cleaner will remove all unwanted entries from a registry and speed up the system.

COM and ActiveX

ActiveX controls can call up COM objects called 'controls'. These 'controls' just blend into the program and become part of the program when called up by COM. OLE also uses COM services in the windows environment. Standard applications, such as word processors and spreadsheets, can be written to expose their internal functions as COM objects, allowing them to be "automated" instead of manually selected from a menu. Microsoft's OLE compound documents are based on COM, which lets one document be embedded within or linked to another (see OLE). ActiveX Documents are extensions to OLE that allow a Web browser, for example, to view not only Web pages, but any kind of document.

Microsoft Corporation is increasingly making its standard programming interfaces conform to the COM object model so that there is continuity between all interfaces in the Windows working environment. In the beginning Microsoft Corporation decided to use the term ‘OLE’ to refer to its COM-based architecture, then later decided to drop that designation in favor of ActiveX. Now since both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM, the term COM is also used. As a result, any combination of the words COM, OLE and ActiveX followed by the words control, object and component may mean the same thing, or they may not, depending on the context they are referred to.

So in the end we are given to understand that Common Object Model is ActiveX and vice versa in relation to the environment they are working in. All this automatic activity only feeds the registry with information it may not have to retain. But there is no way to rid the registry of this data except with the help of a windows registry cleaner. A PC registry cleaner will remover from the registry all unwanted information thus making the system more efficient.