Well, it's just that plugins require a conscious effort to install.

But as I understand it (TBH I don't often use IE, my Windows setups are all VMs) ActiveX controls are presented more like Java applets: at most you're asked whether you're sure you want to display it/grant it privileges/etc., which wouldn't be well understood by many, that they're actually downloading and executing native code that could do what it likes.

Of course it's possible, but there just doesn't seem to be the same widespread problem with plugins as with ActiveX.

True, but in order to interface with NPAPI, plugin software has to be downloaded and installed. Software that you download and install has the same security issues since, just like browser plugins, it is native code running with the same privileges.

True, but in order to interface with NPAPI, plugin software has to be downloaded and installed. Software that you download and install has the same security issues since, just like browser plugins, it is native code running with the same privileges as the retard I'm respondin

At no cost to you, but like it or not, people are paid for making what you consider mere information (even though you admit it has value to many), and most of them wouldn't or couldn't do so without some kind of compensation.
Personally, I'd rather a wide choice of entertainment that costs something (even if overpriced), than a much narrower selection that's barely worth anything.

No, there isn't room for both. If you read the article or the several posts now that've mentioned it, these machines are going to have 1-1.5 GB flash memory for storage. Even Linux may be a tight squeeze, and dual booting both it and OS X, assuming the latter can even be slimmed down to fit within 512-768MB of drive space, would mean that they'd get the best of neither.