ARE INTERNET EXPLORER USERS LESS INTELLIGENT?

A research firm posted an IQ test on its Web site and then compiled the results from more than 100,000 users. It found that there was no substantial difference between users of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. But Internet Explorer users had IQs below average.

That's a switch from five years ago, when IQs were more or less the same across all browsers.
The company, Aptiquant, bills itself as a "psychometric consultant." Its main business is creating tests to help businesses hire well. Now before all you Opera users get too satisfied with yourselves, there are lots of possible reasons why IE users scored so low:

• IE has about twice the installed base of any other browser, so IQs are more likely to tend toward the mean
• IE is the default browser of 95% of people who don't know how to download and install a new browser, which drags down the average. (Mac users in this boat stick with Safari.)
• People who use other browsers include a disproportionate number of computer geeks, which brings their averages up
• Online IQ tests -- or IQ tests in general -- are silly
• IE users really are kind of dumb
  

INTERNET EXPLORER 10 WILL NOT RUN ON VISTA

Microsoft has taken the decision to not add backwards compatibility into the next version of its browser from day one. That means if you are running any version of Windows other than Windows 7 (and Windows 8 on release) then Internet Explorer 10 won’t work–not even the developer preview is compatible.

While Chrome, Opera, and Firefox continue to be compatible with Windows Vista and the much older Windows XP, Microsoft has decided to cut off those users in the name of progress. The reason? Microsoft is unwilling to cater for the “lowest common denominator” when developing its latest web browser.

The decision may look like a push to get people to upgrade their operating system when IE10 finally gets released, but Microsoft is stating this is about utilizing modern hardware and the latest operating system features. To do that it needs to only support Windows 7 and future Windows versions.

OPERA LAUNCHES APP STORE

Browser maker Opera has announced the a new application store for Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Java based handsets that offers both free and paid applications for your mobile device. “The Opera Mobile Store is available to Opera users and users of other mobile browsers, on all popular mobile phone platforms in more than 200 countries,” reads the press release. “The Opera Mobile Store uses Appia’s storefront commerce technology and leverages a wide catalog of applications.”

The company boasts that its store attracted more than 15 million users from 200 countries, cultivating over 700,000 downloads per day, during its pilot stage this February. Opera has partnered with app store curator Appia to help launch the Opera Mobile Store globally. “The Opera Mobile Store presents a remarkable opportunity for mobile application developers to distribute localized content through a single, far-reaching marketplace,” said Appia’s CEO, Jud Bowman. “Appia is thrilled to partner with Opera to deliver an incredible storefront of applications to Opera users and beyond.” The Swedish company has put a “featured link” leading to the new store in the Speed Dial section of the Opera browser.

OPERA BROWSER GETS AN OVER-17 RATING IN APP STORE; RESPONDS HUMUOROUSLY

You might not yet be aware of this, but Apple's policy towards web browsers is to treat the entire internet as their content. As a result, all browsers on the iOS App Store come with a minimum age requirement of 17 and the same rule will apply to them on the Mac App Store. Opera, the first non-native web explorer to make it in Apple's new desktop app repository is taking a humorous approach to things, with VP Jan Standal saying he's "not sure if, at that age, people are ready to use such an application. It's very fast, you know, and it has a lot of features."

All that said, Opera's willing to be reckless if you are, and will totally let you download its Mac software through its homepage -- no age or credit card checks required, though you might want to ask for your parents' permission first.

OPERA BROWSER COMING TO SONY TVs AND BLU-RAY PLAYERS

Opera has officially announced its much-loved web browser will be appearing on Sony TVs and Blu-ray players. The browser is expected to spread across Sony's lineup of 22 connected HDTVs. Since the browser is based off of the Opera devices SDK backbone, it's also not a stretch to imagine that Opera-enabled web applications, widgets, or other content using standards like HTML5 (no Flash, at least not yet) could piggy back onto Sony gear at some point. The real elephant in the room though is how this move relates to the Japanese tech giant's Internet TV initiative that's powered by Google TV. While we can't imagine it signals Mountain View's solution is destined for a dumping, between this and a similar move by Samsung including a browser in its own Smart TV platform, a little bit of jealousy could be just the kick Google needs to fix some glaring issues.

OPERA 11 RELEASED; ADDS GESTURES, TAB STACKING AND EXTENSIONS

Opera has released version 11 of its popular browser in Windows, Mac and Linux flavors. This updated browser now includes the ability to add extensions, tab stacking and right-click navigation gestures.

You can check out all the updates at the Opera 11 website. Or, you can download the browser and start using it right away. [Gizmodo]

GOOGLE'S CHROME BROWSER COMES IN FIRST IN BROWSER TESTS FOR WINDOWS

Google's Chrome browser annihilated the competition in a Windows browser test conducted by Ars Technica.  The test was done on a Asus laptop running a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate.  The Ars Technica team compared IE8, Opera 10, Firefox 3, Chrome 6 and Safari 5.  They also tested the betas of these browsers IE9, Firefox 4 beta, Chrome 7 dev, a WebKit nightly (Safari beta) and Opera 10.70.

The tests included the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark, the V8 Benchmark Suite and Peacekeeper: The Browser Benchmark, testing JavaScripting performance.  They also used the Nontroppo General Browser Load-Time test, testing page load times.

In 6 out of the 8 tests, Chrome came in first.  In many instances by a wide margin.  In those tests where it did not come in first it was a close second.

Google's Chrome team goal is to release a new version approximately every six weeks, so the competition has its work cut out for it, but the Chrome team can't rest on its laurels since the other developers are also working on newer versions to un-crown the current king. [Ars Technica]

OPERA MOBILE COMING TO ANDROID

Opera mobile will be coming to the Android very soon.  The new software will support hardware acceleration for increased frame rates allowing users to zip around websites quickly.  Also, pinch-to-zoom will be added for the first time to an Opera product, Opera Mini will be getting this feature in the future.  Opera Mobile is expected to hit the Android Market within the next month or so. [Engadget]

INTERNET EXPLORER CONTINUES SLIDE IN BROWSER WARS 2

Internet Explorer (IE) continues it's slide against an onslaught of browsers.  The perennial favorite has dropped to under 50% of the market, currently at 49.87%.  Compared this to Firefox making up 31.5% and Chrome coming up fast with 11.54%.  A number of other browsers, like Safari and Opera, make up the rest.  Interestingly, Chrome's market share has tripled in the last year.

Two years ago IE had over two-thirds of the market, but with a slew of new browsers that are faster and more configurable, the venerable browser just couldn't continue to compete.  Microsoft must have finally acknowledged the inevitable as it released an upgrade with IE 8 and a ground up redo with IE 9, currently in beta.

TehGayGeek's stats show that IE is the third most popular browser to visit the site at 22.62%.  The number one browser is Firefox at 34.73% followed by Chrome at 29.08%. [Engadget]