Are Internet Explorer users dumb?

[Ringel05]

(CNN) -- Are users of other Web browsers smarter than the people who use Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

A new survey doesn't quite say so. But it sure as heck suggests it.

The survey by AptiQuant, a Vancouver-based Web consulting company, gave more than 100,000 participants an IQ test, while monitoring which browser they used to take the test.

The result? Internet Explorer users scored lower than average, while Chrome, Firefox and Safari users were slightly above average.

And users of the more obscure Camino and Opera browsers, as well as those using Explorer with Chrome Frame (a plug-in designed to let users view emerging HTML5 content), had what AptiQuaint called "exceptionally higher" IQ levels

Are Internet Explorer users dumb? - CNN.com

So if ya want people to think you're schmart migrate to Opera........

 

[Mr. H.]

IE doesn't have the IQ cheat app. I shood no, I done looked 4 it.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Having dealt with Opera, I am wondering about this statistic. I would have thought Opera users would have wound up on the other end of the scale.

 

[Dude111]

No,IE users are not dumb!

 

[daveman]

 

[zzzz]

I suspect that the reality is that most users grew up with IE and do not want to learn or adjust to a new browser. I use 3 different browsers including IE9 so where does that put my intelligence?

Been having trouble with Chrome lately keeping me on certain sites after multiple entries including USMB. Still have not figured the problem out. Ran virus checks, rebooted the Hughes net but I suspect it is my Norton causing the problem. Background scans by Norton were freezing the computer. I know when it runs out I will be changing to some other virus protection.

 

[Ringel05]

I suspect that the reality is that most users grew up with IE and do not want to learn or adjust to a new browser. I use 3 different browsers including IE9 so where does that put my intelligence?

Been having trouble with Chrome lately keeping me on certain sites after multiple entries including USMB. Still have not figured the problem out. Ran virus checks, rebooted the Hughes net but I suspect it is my Norton causing the problem. Background scans by Norton were freezing the computer. I know when it runs out I will be changing to some other virus protection.

It was an unscientific poll and they stated as much. I posted it because I though it was funny.

 

[007]

I suspect that the reality is that most users grew up with IE and do not want to learn or adjust to a new browser. I use 3 different browsers including IE9 so where does that put my intelligence?

Been having trouble with Chrome lately keeping me on certain sites after multiple entries including USMB. Still have not figured the problem out. Ran virus checks, rebooted the Hughes net but I suspect it is my Norton causing the problem. Background scans by Norton were freezing the computer. I know when it runs out I will be changing to some other virus protection.

Norton is a massive resource drain on your computer. Get rid of it.

Use this, it's free, it doesn't slow down your computer, it ranks at the top with the best anti-virus programs out there, and you never know it's there...

Anti-Malware, Virus, Spyware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials

 

[waltky]

Granny still surfin' the web on Netscape...

Internet Explorer: Microsoft plans 'silent' updates
16 December 2011 - Once IE is updated, future changes will be applied without a user's knowledge

From January, Internet Explorer (IE) users will be automatically updated to the latest version of the browser. Microsoft said it was starting the project to update millions of machines to improve security online. Future updates to the browser would be applied without a user's knowledge to help beat scammers catching people out with fake updates. Those who did not want their browser updated could opt out or uninstall the software, said Microsoft. "The Web overall is better - and safer - when more people run the most up-to-date browser," wrote Ryan Gavin, Microsoft's IE boss, in a blogpost explaining the plan.

He said the data gathered by Microsoft for its security intelligence reports showed that many cyber criminals targeted old or outdated software when they tried to trick people into installing fake updates. To beat such scams, Mr Gavin, said that once the latest version of the browser was installed all future updates would arrive silently and be applied without a user getting involved. Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos, said the plan would aid those who did not see the importance of staying up to date. "Microsoft has been struggling with browser stragglers for years," he said in a statement.

Demise of IE6

The giant upgrade programme will affect IE users running Windows XP, Vista and 7, and will first be rolled out in Australia and Brazil. Only those Windows users with automatic updates turned on will be enrolled in the programme. Those using Windows XP will be upgraded to IE8, while those on Vista and 7 get bumped up to IE9. This will probably mean the demise of IE6, a 10-year-old version of the browser that Microsoft has been trying to kill off for a while.

Figures gathered by Microsoft suggest IE6 is used by about 8.3% of people around the world, with the biggest number of users in China, where almost 28% of people remain wedded to it. Globally, Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser, with more than 52% of people using it, according to net market research firm Net Applications. Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome are battling it out for second place. Microsoft said it had made tools that would let people avoid or uninstall the more up-to-date versions of the browsers if they wanted to stay with an older copy.

BBC News - Internet Explorer: Microsoft plans 'silent' updates

 

[waltky]

Web browsing soon to be safer...

Web Browser Companies Agree to 'No-Track' Button
February 23, 2012 - A coalition of Internet companies, including U.S.-based Google, has agreed to support a "do-not-track" button being installed in Web browsers to help protect the privacy of computer users around the world.

For more than a year, the Internet browser companies had resisted embedding the button. But slowly, various browsing companies have adopted the "do-not-track" feature, including Mozilla with its Firefox browser, Microsoft with Internet Explorer and Apple with its Mountain Lion operating system.

On Thursday, Google, the world's most popular search engine, said it, too, would join a broad coalition of 400 technology, advertising and media companies to support the anti-tracking effort. Google's announcement came hours before President Barack Obama called on Congress to pass legislation defining a "privacy bill of rights" for Internet users. Obama said the privacy standards are necessary because he said "consumer trust is essential for the continued growth of the digital economy."

The U.S.-based Internet industry, fueled annually by nearly $40 billion in online advertising, has been caught in several privacy disputes as advanced technology has been created that can track users' viewing habits. Most disputes have involved claims that the browser companies have deceptively collected information about which Internet sites people have visited and then used it to customize advertising sent to users or for other commercial purposes.

Under the new agreement, the Internet companies have pledged within the next nine months to begin stopping customizing advertising or to use the data for employment, credit, health care or insurance purposes. They still would be able to use tracking information for broader "market research" or "product development" purposes.

Source

 

[uscitizen]

Some internal corporate web pages require IE to work properly.

 

[Ringel05]

Some internal corporate web pages require IE to work properly.

As do some school/university online programs. My wife has to use IE because their system only supports IE 7 through 9 and Firefox up to the 3.6.16 version and was causing problems when she tried to post her work using Firefox.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Some internal corporate web pages require IE to work properly.

As do some school/university online programs. My wife has to use IE because their system only supports IE 7 through 9 and Firefox up to the 3.6.16 version and was causing problems when she tried to post her work using Firefox.

Alot of these sites work if you use an add on like UserAgent...which tricks the website into thinking you have IE.
I can verify it works on the college my daughter goes to.

See - this is the thing the kind of thing that infuriates me about Microsoft -based websites. They purposely prevent a user using anything other than IE - knowing that FF or Chrome works just fine. I think this is fraudulent.
This is the kind of thing that continues to make me a "Microsoft Hater".

 

[zzzz]

Some internal corporate web pages require IE to work properly.

I had an incident a couple of weeks ago where I was trying to pay my bill on line and could not get the site to work correctly. I contacted their chat window and was told that I had to use IE8 (I have IE9) and to down grade to IE8. Well that was something that is a little more complex than with older IE's and since I do rarely use IE I ended up calling them on the phone and paying my bill that way.

I have noticed a lot of companies take awhile to upgrade so if you like to be on the cutting edge of technology be aware that you may have troubles doing the simple things.

 

[asterism]

Some internal corporate web pages require IE to work properly.

As do some school/university online programs. My wife has to use IE because their system only supports IE 7 through 9 and Firefox up to the 3.6.16 version and was causing problems when she tried to post her work using Firefox.

Alot of these sites work if you use an add on like UserAgent...which tricks the website into thinking you have IE.
I can verify it works on the college my daughter goes to.

See - this is the thing the kind of thing that infuriates me about Microsoft -based websites. They purposely prevent a user using anything other than IE - knowing that FF or Chrome works just fine. I think this is fraudulent.
This is the kind of thing that continues to make me a "Microsoft Hater".

Most of the time it's not "Microsoft," it's some shitty web programmers who only know dotnet and activex.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

As do some school/university online programs. My wife has to use IE because their system only supports IE 7 through 9 and Firefox up to the 3.6.16 version and was causing problems when she tried to post her work using Firefox.

Alot of these sites work if you use an add on like UserAgent...which tricks the website into thinking you have IE.
I can verify it works on the college my daughter goes to.

See - this is the thing the kind of thing that infuriates me about Microsoft -based websites. They purposely prevent a user using anything other than IE - knowing that FF or Chrome works just fine. I think this is fraudulent.
This is the kind of thing that continues to make me a "Microsoft Hater".

Most of the time it's not "Microsoft," it's some shitty web programmers who only know dotnet and activex.

...which is Microsoft..
There has to be a script written into the website programming to check for what browser/version you have - then another to refuse to continue if you don't have it. I doubt the "shitty" programmer is the one doing this - especially since site after site does this with the same message.
I especially love the verbage in the message - something like "your system is outdated and/or you are using a non standard browser, you need to update your system to Internet Explorer-x" - This message to most people will read as "gosh - I better buy a new computer..websites aren't working".
It is bullshit. They are playing on the general lack of knowledge that users have into thinking that Firefox is rouge/inferior - or worse yet their computer is too old and the "internet" isn't working with it.
I guarantee you PLENTY of college students as an example - have bought new laptops because of this message....thus Microsoft received OS money from the PC manufacturer - as well as highly likely money for a new copy of Student Office.
All because of a fraudulent message that is completely false.

 

[Middleoftheroad]

(CNN) -- Are users of other Web browsers smarter than the people who use Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

A new survey doesn't quite say so. But it sure as heck suggests it.

The survey by AptiQuant, a Vancouver-based Web consulting company, gave more than 100,000 participants an IQ test, while monitoring which browser they used to take the test.

The result? Internet Explorer users scored lower than average, while Chrome, Firefox and Safari users were slightly above average.

And users of the more obscure Camino and Opera browsers, as well as those using Explorer with Chrome Frame (a plug-in designed to let users view emerging HTML5 content), had what AptiQuaint called "exceptionally higher" IQ levels

Are Internet Explorer users dumb? - CNN.com

So if ya want people to think you're schmart migrate to Opera........

Makes perfect sense to me. The answer is simple. Nerds. Nerds are probably slightly higher intelligence then average. Nerds don't use IE. Some may use Chrome, Firefox etc... To use the others, it is almost a requirement.

 

[Luissa]

I have internet explorer on my computer, google chrome, and safari. I had Firefox once, but I had too much problem with it. I finally just deleted it.
I like google chrome, I have never even heard of Opera.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I have internet explorer on my computer, google chrome, and safari. I had Firefox once, but I had too much problem with it. I finally just deleted it.
I like google chrome, I have never even heard of Opera.

Opera has it's followers...sorta like a "cult" among browsers.
Those who like it swear by it. The rest of us are not so impressed.
I tried it several times, but couldn't get use to its interface and the fact websites just look different.

 

[editec]

FYI

Opera might be a great browser but not many folks actually use it.

Febuary's web-browser users on my site based on the 36,000 unique users up to the 25th of this month.

Browsers (Top 10) - BrowsersGrabberHitsPercent

MS Internet Explorer...45 %

Safari...34.3%
%

Firefox...17.7 %

Opera...1.0 %

Mozilla...0.9 %

Unknown...0.5 %

NetShow Player (media player)...0.1 %

Netscape...0 %

Nokia Browser (PDA/Phone browser)0 %

iBrowse...0 %
Others ...0 %

I have a very high rate of visitors coming from places other than the USA so that might skew the stats somewhat.

Or it might not, I really don't know.