Are Internet Explorer users dumb?
Last Update: July 30, 2011

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.

Those numbers, it should be noted, probably aren't very scientific. The field of test-takers was self-selecting -- people who chose, on their own, to take an IQ test instead of a scientifically selected study group. They found the test through Web searches or ads the company placed online.

The report suggests that people using Explorer, the built-in, default browser for Windows-based computers, may be more resistant to change. A similar study in 2006 showed users on the then-current IE browser scored above average.

Internet Explorer is the world's most popular browser, with about a 43% share, according to StatCounter. Firefox has just under 30%, and Google's Chrome has 19%, according to a report from May.

Users of Internet Explorer 6, released in 2001, scored the lowest on the tests, at just over 80. Users of Opera, the Norway-based browser, scored the highest at well over 120. (What AptiQuant called its complete results included a bar graph showing the scores, but didn't appear to have text giving the exact numbers.)

IQ scores have a "population mean" of 100.

If this all smacks of a little good, old-fashioned Microsoft hate, the language the company uses in its report doesn't do much to downplay that.

"It is common knowledge that Internet Explorer Versions 6.0 to 8.0 are highly incompatible with modern web standards. In order to make websites work properly on these browsers, web developers have to spend a lot of unnecessary effort ...," said the report from AptiQuant, which offers online tools for employers to measure employee, and potential employee, aptitude.

"Now that we have a statistical pattern on the continuous usage of incompatible browsers, better steps can be taken to eradicate this nuisance."

What do you think? Cheap shot or telling results? Let me know in the comments.

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Labman_1 Premium
The relative intelligence numbers may show a different trend. Those that are of higher intelligence are probably the Geekiest (is this a word) users. Their comfort level is probably higher with the more obscure browsers due to their computer time served. It may just be that they know computing better. abailey has the right of it though. They may have lower intelligence but 43% of your audience still needs to be catered to.
abailey Premium
I'd say "So what". Since the plurality of users use IE of whatever version, it means I develop to IE and check it on FF, etc. There's no way I want 43% of my customers to have trouble with the site.

Besides it's "supposed" to be easier to sell the dumb ones. :-)
leomessi Premium
I so wish I was IE user again....using Firefox means you've started down the path of geekiness :-)
jatdebeaune Premium
Sounds like who likes martinis better than Bloody Mary's. The more sophisticated users probably like Chrome and Opera. The others don't even know about Chrome and Opera, far less Explorer with Chrome Frame, so they crawl over to whatever is there (and it's usually Explorer) and Google away. I'm very fond of Firefox. Used to like Chrome, but it had too many snags when I used it. I gave up on it, but man, it was fast.
Louise M. Premium
I knew all along. lol
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