It's Official: IE Users May Be Lacking in the Ains-bray Epartment-day

**Lemur** · 07-31-2011, 14:57

Or as El Reg put it this morning, IE users are dumb as a bag of hammers

A comprehensive study of web users has determined that the dumber you are, the more likely you are to use Microsoft Internet Explorer.

After measuring the IQs of exactly 101,326 users and correlating their scores with the browser they had used to access the test, "There was a clear indication ... that the subjects using any version of Internet Explorer ranked significantly lower on an average than others," concludes the study, conducted by the Vancouver, Canada, psychometric-assessment firm, AptiQuant.

At the other end of the scale are those oh-so-brilliant Opera users, followed close behind by users of Camino and Internet Explorer with Chrome Frame.

"There was no significant difference in the IQ scores between individuals using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari;" AptiQuant writes, "however, it was on an average higher than IE users."

The methodology of the study appears sound. English-speaking users from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand were drawn to a free IQ assessment test on AptiQuant's website either organically through unprompted search-engine results or through advertisements. Before being given the test, subjects were asked their age and gender; subjects under 16 were redirected to a different site, and their data was not used in the test.

Each subject's browser and operating system were detected and retained along with their scores on the well-respected Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (IV) IQ test.

Those results were then compared with the results of a similar study done in 2006 – and the results weren't pretty for users of Internet Explorer versions 6 through 9. If anything, IE users appear to have gotten duller over the past five years, and Opera users, sharper.

"The comparison clearly suggests that more people on the higher side of IQ scale have moved away from Internet Explorer in the last 5 years," AptiQuant concludes.

**Husar** · 07-31-2011, 15:57

Husar,
Opera User

**Tellos Athenaios** · 07-31-2011, 16:04

Originally Posted by Lemur

"The comparison clearly suggests that more people on the higher side of IQ scale have moved away from Internet Explorer in the last 5 years," AptiQuant concludes.

Or that smart people no longer feel the need to spoof their User Agent headers?

Anyway it is to be expected, in the English speaking world Opera is not the mainstream choice.

**Risasi** · 07-31-2011, 20:43

What happens when you use multiple browsers?

Daily I am in Chrome and Safari.
And I'm forced to use IE for certain Active-X web-enabled interfaces, for custom crap like Security cameras, market data systems, etc.

Now excuse me...
:runs to aptiquant website to take IQ test in Lynx:

**InsaneApache** · 08-01-2011, 02:06

Originally Posted by Husar

Husar,
Opera User

Me too.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 08-01-2011, 02:09

Can one of you smug Opera users tell me if your version of firebug is as good as the one for FF? Since it's finally got a NoScript analog I might actually be able to convert...

**Tellos Athenaios** · 08-01-2011, 02:51

Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good

Can one of you smug Opera users tell me if your version of firebug is as good as the one for FF? Since it's finally got a NoScript analog I might actually be able to convert...

NoScript & Adblock type stuff is built in since ages? And dragonfly goes back to at least Opera 9?

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 08-02-2011, 01:33

Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios

NoScript & Adblock type stuff is built in since ages? And dragonfly goes back to at least Opera 9?

NoScript functionality has never been built-in. You can turn all scripts on a page on or off, but you can't pick and choose which ones. Certainly not in a straightforward UI. And I've never used dragonfly but it might suffice...

**naut** · 08-02-2011, 13:08

I like Oprah, I google her on my Internets Explorers.

**Yaropolk** · 08-02-2011, 17:22

They allowed users to self-select for the study? As in no simple random sample of population? Of course the only people with enough free time and desire to take the test will be smug yuppie opera users and people too dumb to switch out their default browser or hold down a steady job. What shocking news will we hear next, 95% of US population disapproves of Obama's performance according to poll on FoxNews.com?