Only in the context of embeddable web components, and only because running non-sandboxed native code in the browser is a security disaster in general, not because of anything specific to ActiveX.
Outside of that context, ActiveX is simply a well-defined object-oriented API and ABI for cross-language use.
It wasn't any better for Windows 98 with IE bundled in the shell, and audio parsing functions right in the kernel.
Up to the point tons of people chose to revert W98's shell to the Win95 one, having a good speed boost on some PI-PII machnes.
VB6 was a good idea as a RAD tool; but, as TCL 7.x (and the older 8.x releases), the performance wasn't fast enough until some Pentium 3/Pentium 4 for 'big' software. Not an issue for a boring company program or the 234000000nth shareware crossword puzzle software for PC magazines or sites as Softonic. Or some whatever catalog hooking up some Excel/Access libraries, or nice in-sormware forms borrowed from IE DLL to create zillions of similar shovelware.
That kind of niche software was everywhere.
Ditto with some simple games written in VB; but the native ones outperformed VB ones with ease. And, yes, you could call native DDL's, but most amateur programmers didn't do that.
"Boring company program" is exactly what VB was made for. People tried to use it for other purposes because when you have a hammer, you make everything look like a nail, but I don't recall any actual prominent software written in VB outside of line-of-business stuff. "Serious business" in that timeframe was done either in Delphi or in C++.
