It has now emerged that the company’s domain name and website were only recently set up and staff images were lifted from a legitimate French business in Paris. Thumbnail images of the firm’s staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed.

Two days after the study was widely circulated in media across the world, a computer programmer named Tarandeep Gill, the person behind the hoax wrote on www.aptiquant.com, “There is no company called AptiQuant, and no such survey was ever done“.

He further added, “The main purpose behind this hoax was to create awareness about the incompatibilities of IE6, and not to insult or hurt anyone.“

Earlier, AptiQuant had claimed that it surveyed over 1 lakh Web users and found that Opera users were smartest while IE users “have a below than average IQ score.“

“So, frustrated with Internet Explorer, I went on to create a meme that would result in some awareness and hopefully convince a few Web users to stop using IE 6,” Gill wrote on AptiQuant. “But what’s really funny is that everybody took the report so seriously, with comments like ‘Oh did we need such a study, we already knew that,” wrote Gill.

You may want to call the person behind the ‘fake survey‘ a liar, but I don’t see it being as much about lying as it is about being a case of very good viral marketing combined with the media’s eagerness to pick up shocking and popular stories without fact checking them first.

But perhaps it was a test after all. If you follow any publications that wrote this story up last week and haven’t yet corrected it, you might ask them where they send their journalists for training.

In short, you may not want to believe anything this study claimed… still the stereotype of backward IE users continues to proliferate and Microsoft will certainly hope to reverse the trends once they release IE 9.

But finally, Microsoft wants you to help send IE6 in to oblivion, and has officially set up a global IE6 deathwatch in the hopes of increasing awareness that there are better versions Internet Explorer beyond the version 6 that used to be shipped along with Windows XP.

Friends don’t let friends use Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)

“10 years ago a browser was born,” Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 Countdown site says. “It’s name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye. This website is dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.”

Microsoft pegs global usage of IE6 at 12 percent as of Feburary 2011 and wants it to drop to 1 percent. So ever wondered why is it still so high? As per Microsoft’s own IE6 Countdown, China is the biggest shareholder of maintaining the IE6 culture, with 34.5 percent of users using IE6. South Korea follows second with 24.8 percent. Norway and Finland get the prize for most progressive and updated, with both countries clocking in at less than 1 percent.

The countdown website also includes details of IE6 share by country, updated on a monthly basis; the software giant says it will celebrate as countries dip under the 1 percent mark. Microsoft urged website owners to display the IE6 countdown banner on their sites, and urged everyone to educate acquaintances of the dangers. “Friends don’t let friends use Internet Explorer 6,” Microsoft said.

Some facts About IE6: IE 6 came out a few weeks before the Twin Towers fell. It came out before the Nintendo GameCube. It came out before the first iPod.

Interestingly, Microsoft is getting ready to introduce Internet Explorer 9 in the coming weeks and must be hoping the drop of IE6 usage will help them get some early-adopters of IE9. At any rate, with Microsoft’s Kill IE6 campaign, it certainly appears that this is time for IE6 to retire and go home; no more excuses! What do you think? And more importantly, what are you going to do to contribute to this campaign?

On July 29, Neowin.net reposted some screen shots from what they believe to be a newly leaked test build of IE 9. That build includes a new download manager, but doesn’t yet feature the new user interface. For all of its improvements, there’s a good chance that Microsoft’s browser will have been surpassed by its competition by the time it finally ships.

The Web Developers are keenly waiting for the new browser. There is a significant improvement of Internet  Explorer 9 in comparison with Internet Explorer 8, with considerably improved standards compliance and functionality. The software giant has been releasing preview releases for testers and web developers. The basic idea is to  get the rendering engine correct before they put it in a useful interface.

This is a major update for the company as they are going to support a lot of new web technologies. This is going to make things easy for a lot of developers out there. One of the biggest improvements is expanded support for HTML5 and use of hardware acceleration. The stable edition is unlikely to arrive within this year though it would be cool if they can launch it by December 2010.

To be real honest, IE6 is pretty bad. If your traffic consists of IE6 users or you’re developing for an industry where IE6 is still being used, just remember to always validate your code and you’ll get rid of a lot of the inconsistencies. But often, that is lot easier said than  done! <sigh>

[Source]

Blame Businesses — sad truth but most clients want IE6 support. Even MS recommends you don’t use IE6. Which is probably why they’re already at IE8 and IE9 is in development. It’s one thing to willingly use IE6, but it’s something far more dastardly to force others to use it against their will. Corporate IT, stop stalling and deploy a newer IE! Wake up fellas.

Opera: A relatively well known Browser as well.  This is slowly becoming more and more popular, it has become well known for its speed, and generally referred to as; “the fastest browser”, even though the upcoming IE9 is being projected as the fastest browser till now.  Opera is a tidy and well rounded Browser and is now incorporated into Nintendo’s Wii system.  A unique system with Opera is the ability to zoom into an entire document or page without issue.  This doesn’t just re-size text, the entire page is expanded.  This is one of my favorite Browsers as its speed gives me little hassle and the tab system is kept tidy, even when shrouded in toolbars! And yes, there is a version of Opera for the Android too.

Netscape Navigator: This is probably the oldest of the bunch, catching up with the likes of Firefox. This browser could be one of the champions if it got some decent coverage.  This is also a very clean system and has a whole host of add-ons similar to Firefox.  There are many people that consider the Netscape add-ons to be more informative, more thought out and they work well with their server hosting as well.  In terms of diagnosis they seem to be much more in depth and informative.

Google Chrome: Right, this was also an obvious one, but it still isn’t as popular as you think.  This Browser does work very much like Firefox, but in my opinion doesn’t have quite as goo layout.  The thin blue strip at the top feels a bit lonely, and the tabs looked as though they have been rushed.  However unlike Firefox, Chrome very rarely has issues and isn’t likely to break down on you.  You can get add-ons for Chrome but they are still limited and ongoing in production.  This is still quite a young Browser, so it has plenty of room to grow!

Chameleon: A simple mans browser, with some very old school reminiscent features of Internet Explorer 6.  The general layout is hardly what I would call attractive, and there isn’t all that much you can do with it, which means there us much less to go wrong.  It is a very fast browser and although the tabs are untidy, are easy to spot, and because they are small you can fit quite a few in one window.   As said this is for those that just want something standard, if you still use Internet Explorer 6 but don’t want anything fancy, then this is your Browser!

Flock: This is for all you youngsters or social media experts.  This browser comes under the same wing as Firefox, built by Mozilla.  You can utilize this browser as a means of watching all of your social networks with ease.  Instead of having multiple tabs you can have all of your social networks split into separate widgets where you can monitor the most important information from each one.  It’s basically like having a master control page on your web browser where you can monitor all of your social activity and that of your friends!  As for the searching the web side, it is all pretty similar to Firefox, with some problems but without quite as many add-ons.

The ONLY thing Internet Explorer is Good for is Downloading Firefox or Google Chrome!

But ironically, you don’t even need IE for that. If you need to download FF, just do it through FTP, and if you want chrome, download FF and then chrome! It is a known fact that IE is an inherently buggy and inferior browser, which fails to adhere to rules which almost every other major browser has no problem adhering to.

In essence, IE does suck as a browser. Some people just don’t know it because good programmers code around it so you don’t have to suffer from it.

Also Read: “If Browsers Were Girls/Women [Infographic]“

This one too: “If Browsers Were Mode of Transportations [Infographic]“

via: 9gag

Some facts About IE6: IE 6 came out a few weeks before the Twin Towers fell. It came out before the Nintendo GameCube. It came out before the first iPod.So many people (including Govt. of Germany and even Microsoft themself) feel that it’s time to put a deadline on dropping IE6, and I say that time is now, and the deadline should be soon.

Often a website that looks perfect in Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, Opera etc looks a complete mess in Internet Explorer 6.  This is because Internet Explorer 6 is completely behind the times, useless at displaying new technologies and code, and should basically be retired, buried underground or stuck in a museum.  I don’t care where, as long as as we are rid of it. And while we are at it, don’t forget to check out the compatibility of your cheap hosting plans to other browsers too.

2010 is the year where we will finally see the protracted, convulsive death of Internet Explorer 6 and the collective cries of joy the world over will be well-heard as the Web as we know it finally gains the opportunity to move on and begin taking advantage of HTML5, CSS3 and the other exciting potential that has been forced to wait for so long.

“The Platform Preview, and the feedback loop it is part of, marks a major change from previous IE releases,” said Dean Hachamovich, the browser team’s general manager, in a statement issued today before he took the stage at MIX10, Microsoft’s Web developer conference, to publicly launch IE9. “While it loads and renders Web pages using the Internet Explorer 9 platform, it is not designed to be a complete Web browser,” Microsoft said in a fact sheet that accompanied the preview’s announcement. “This build is simply a first look at the work Microsoft has done so far and is ready to share with its developer community.“

Can IE 9 Compensate Microsoft’s Browser Losses?

Microsoft is claiming that the speedier Internet Explorer 9 will be enough to stem the steady erosion of IE’s market share, claiming that it’s now slightly faster than Firefox 3.6. At least one prominent analyst agrees. But is speed alone enough to make a difference? So far, Microsoft is playing up speed as IE 9′s primary benefit, and adds that it adheres to HTML 5 standards as well. It’s not clear, though, whether that will be enough to stop what has seemed to be an inexorable decline in IE market share.

IE has lost approximately 8 percentage points of share as measured by NetApplications.com in the last 12 months, and now accounts for about 62% of all browsers in use. Even the introduction of IE8 a year ago hasn’t stemmed the losses. Hence, I’m not convinced that speed alone will solve the problem. Firefox and Chrome, which have both been gaining market share at IE’s expense, both having something that IE doesn’t: A vibrant ecosystem of developers writing add-ins.

What’s New (Feature Enhancements) in IE9?

Internet Explorer has received a fair amount of criticism in the past for its tepid web standards support and security vulnerabilities that were targeted by hackers. With IE9, however, Microsoft is heavily touting its improved handing of new web technologies. The IE9 Platform Preview provides improved HTML5 support, CSS 3 support (CSS is a technology that makes it easier for designers to specify how they want their sites to look), and an upgraded JavaScript Engine for better performance of web apps.

Also, IE9 will provide hardware acceleration for rendering graphics and text on a web page (Microsoft’s press release didn’t mention which GPUs will be supported, but it’s probably safe to assume you’ll need a fairly recent card), and built-in support for H.264 video playback using HTML5 (such as what YouTube currently provides for some videos).

Microsoft has several technology demos on its IE9 Test Drive site, such as a T-shirt designer, various animation demos, and even a variation of the classic game Asteroids. None of these demos use Flash; instead they all make use of web technologies such as JavaScript and HTML5. Moreover, IE9 is the first browser to use DirectX, although Safari on Mac uses Quartz rendering. It’s not just that hardware graphics acceleration hasn’t been widespread enough to take advantage of before.

How to Download Internet Explorer 9?

The IE9 Platform Preview is a free download from Microsoft; since it’s nowhere close to being a finished project, it won’t replace your current version of Internet Explorer. Be sure to download it and try out some of the demos. Unlike full-fledged editions of IE, the IE9 Platform Preview does not replace existing versions of IE – such as IE7 on Vista or IE8 on Windows 7 – but runs alongside them on the same PC. The preview is a 31MB download, and can be retrieved from the Test Drive site that Microsoft has set up.

Microsoft has previously insisted that the publicly posted exploit code only affects IE6 and as such recommended its users to upgrade. While the software giant says the attacks it sees in the wild are still only successful against IE6, Redmond has rated the flaw “Critical” for all versions of the browser.

“This is a standard cumulative update, accelerated from our regularly scheduled February release, for Internet Explorer with an aggregate severity rating of Critical,” a Microsoft spokesperson told. “It addresses the vulnerability related to recent attacks against Google and a small subset of corporations, as well as several other vulnerabilities. Once applied, customers are protected against the known attacks that have been widely publicized.“

The fact that the update is being released out-of-band (meaning that Microsoft is not going to wait until its next Patch Tuesday on February 9) shows how serious the company is taking this particular vulnerability. The company admitted that its own investigations into the highly organized hacking attack in late December against various companies (including Google) had concluded that a Remote Code Execution vulnerability in IE was used by the perpetrators. That vulnerability is triggered by an attacker using JavaScript to copy, release, and then later reference a specific Document Object Model element; attack code may be executed if it is successfully placed in a random location of freed memory.

The patch is now available via Windows Update and on the Microsoft Download Center. Anyway, here are all the links you will need depending on your OS and IE version:

> Internet Explorer 5.01 SP4
> Internet Explorer 6 SP1
> Internet Explorer for Windows XP 32-bit
> Internet Explorer for Windows XP 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP 64-bit
> Internet Explorer for Windows Server 2003 32-bit
> Internet Explorer for Windows Server 2003 64-bit
> Internet Explorer for Windows Server 2003 Itanium
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 Itanium
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2003
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2003 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Vista 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Vista 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2008 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2008 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2008 Itanium
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2008 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2008 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows 7 32-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows 7 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit
> Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2008 R2 Itanium

And the trend lines favor Firefox in the long run: IE’s market share continues its slow decline while Firefox has sustained steady growth over the recent years. StatCounter uses its tracking codes on 3 million websites (5 billion total pageviews) to generate the numbers and this recent revelation is based on this powerful pool of browsing data.

However, as you can clearly see the above graph doesn’t include Google Chrome while comparing the stats, although the ‘other’ category has experienced a significant rise. It would have been certainly interesting to see how Chrome has been performing as compared to other industry leading top browsers.

At any rate, IE8 is rising fast (along with Windows 7), but over the last few months the slope of Firefox’s worldwide curve has been steeper. (In the US, IE8 has always been ahead of Firefox 3.5; in Europe Firefox has led since late summer.) But what is most unfortunate is the fact that IE6, though down, still has a 14% global share (5%-7% in the US and EU; China and Korea are holding up IE6′s numbers). I seriously wonder when the world will cease to use IE6.

However, lest the anti-Microsoft brigade get too excited, it should be pointed out that the combined weight of IE6, IE7 and IE8 far outweighs Mozilla’s Firefox, which pushed users much more heavily to the latest version.