Hi Colin -
I've recently begun experimenting heavily with OCX controls, and am actually quite satisfied with the results. For example, I implemented the control for a Web Browser (so that I can dynamically create an HTML report and show it), and did not find that I had to intercept and handle all the events generated by this control. What exactly are you referring to when you say you have to handle all events? Which control are you working with?
BTW - AcuGT 5.2 has an improved support for OCX's. The AXDEFGEN utility supports Library controls as well as references, whereas previous versions did not.