Official: If You Use Internet Explorer, You’re Dumb

All web designers hate Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser, always have. Unfortunately, it’s still the worlds most used browser just by dint of the fact it comes pre-installed and set as default on most of the world’s desktops.

Internet Explorer 9

When the Internet became available for mass use the best browser available was Netscape. Internet Explorer was bought by Microsoft from another company later on, when they realised they had misjudged the potential of the Internet.  Microsoft then bundled Internet Explorer onto every copy of Windows they sold and made it virtually impossible to remove.

They also forced computer manufacturers like Dell, HP and Compaq to stop including Netscape as an alternative on their computers if they wanted to keep their license to sell Windows with their machines.

Microsoft eventually crushed Netscape with these nefarious anti trust practises and then they were sued by everybody. Eventually European legislation forced the break up of Microsoft’s operations and they eventually loosened their grip. But by this time, Netscape had become part of the Mozilla project and in a round about way, Firefox is the successor to Netscape.

I don’t want to toot my own horn but I always used Netscape, then Opera, then Firefox and now Goggle’s Chrome. I’ve only used Internet Explorer(IE) when required to do so by corporate policies at a work place. But in most cases, I was usually the person responsible for those policies so generally, though I forced the staff in an organisation to use IE, I still always ran Firefox on my own machine. Hey, it’s one of the few perks of being an IT Manager / Director.

Anyway, a recent Canadian study of over 100,000 Internet users has discovered a correlation between the web browser we use and our IQ. It turns out that if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse the web, then you’re likely to have an IQ of around 80. Remember that average IQ in the USA and UK is said to be 100. They went on to find that users of Firefox or Chrome averaged 110 and users of Opera and Camino average a whopping 120.

Apple Safari

I looked all over the study for the IQ of users of Safari, the default browser on all Apple products, but couldn’t find the answers. Am I to assume they’re so dumb they don’t even merit inclusion in the study? Needless to say, Safari users can sleep well at night because they no doubt dress better than everyone else. And I guess, in today’s world, that’s all that matters.

The study was carried out by Canadian firm AptiQuant and is summarised in their article Is Internet Explorer for the Dumb? The full report pdf can also be downloaded.

So which browser do you use? Be honest! Tell us in the comments below

If you want to significantly boost your IQ in an instant, well there’s an app for that.

• Google Chrome - Windows, Linux, Mac OSX
• Mozilla Firefox - Windows, Linux, Mac OSX
• Opera - Windows, Linux, Mac OSX
• Camino - Mac OSX

I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting of MENSA