Microsoft and IE: This time it’s personal

Now that the smoke has cleared, it turns out that funny little Internet Explorer study could be a hoax that managed to ensnare a lot of legitimate news gatherers, myself included, depending on how loosely you define “news.” But you have to admit — when the tricksters suggested that Microsoft fans are just a little dimmer than the rest of us, it kicked up a storm all over the InterWebs. After I posed the question earlier this week, my own corner of the Net veritably burned up with responses.

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Of course, my issues with Microsoft go back further than IQ tests. Let’s start with my favorite from reader B.B., who apparently took more than the usual amount of umbrage from a recent post where I suggested Microsoft Windows is overdue for a dirt nap and speculated about a possible Microsoft-Sony merger.

Reading your article “Microsoft, Windows, and Sony: Marry, boff, or kill” makes me want to punch you in the face. You bash Windows with no foundation or credibility. Get a life.

Bashing Windows? Guilty as charged. No foundation or credibility? I’ve been using Windows since the dark days of 3.0, or more than 20 years. If that’s not a foundation for frustration, I don’t know what one is. But I’ll be sure to cross the street when I see you coming, B.B.

In a similar vein, just this week I posted an item about a report from Canadian brain testers AptiQuant Psychometrics claiming that Internet Explorer users are dumber than paint. Granted, it turned out they were pulling our leg, but it clearly touched a nerve for many of us. I suspected that would rub some people the wrong way, and I was not disappointed. Smarty-pants reader A.W. writes:

I agree that IE has fallen along the wayside. However, I have an IQ of 140 and still use it along with Firefox. It’s just called the comfort zone. Its what a lot of we self learned computer users started out with and out of loyalty still use. But to call all IE users “below the line,” I think you are the one who could use an up to date IQ test.

Actually I had an IQ test last month. That’s the one where the doctor asks you to turn your head and cough, right? I’m told I passed.

Frequent correspondent D.B., who works for a company whose name rhymes with “horizon,” offers another reason for sticking with IE:

In our case, IE is the internal corporate standard “because it’s a commercial browser supported by a third party” and not an open source browser that is supported by no one. That gives us accountability in the event of problems with the browser with apps we build or buy, plus that way we have a unified standard, which is actually a smart thing to have even if the choice of browser doesn’t fit the profile of being the smartest choice.

Does that make our users dumber? Not by itself, though we surely do have a group of users who would fit into the profile your article suggests.

On the other hand, D.J.L., a member of our nation’s military, raises questions about the Department of Defense’s preference for all things Microsoft, including Windows Vista and IE. He writes:

You might find it interesting that an organization that worked extremely hard to procure Vista, even as Windows admitted its failure and launched 7, also uses IE as its browser (that would be the DoD). That surely doesn’t help the case.

Microsoft likes to imitate the form of its user-friendly competitors, it just doesn’t deliver on the ease of use. It’s like getting into a car that looks like a Toyota Corolla to find there are only a series of levers where the steering wheel, pedals, and gear shift would be. It might be functional … but it’s not friendly, no matter what it looks like on the outside.

He’d better be careful, or B.B. might try to punch him in the face too.

Of course, although it’s a ton of fun to bash Microsoft, I feel it only fair to spread the snark around. In a recent post about Google I suggested that its biggest problem was that the engineers, smart though they are, have too much control over the company’s products. Longtime programmer W.M. agreed. He wrote:

Google has been a fantastic success … at selling advertising and giving away information. It has not been all that successful designing software that shows any polish, or insight into productivity. I expect that one of these days it may “fall apart” … replaced by software suppliers that have more insight into the “human condition” …

A couple of their offerings look interesting, but probably only for up-to-date engineers. I hope I have the time to fully investigate some of their more interesting tools, but fear that they are a little too esoteric for people who are not engineers to appreciate. That is the curse of software engineering — so many possibilities, but few people who can appreciate the results.

I, on the other hand, appreciate the time all those out in there in Cringeville have taken to read my posts, comment, and email me responses — even if you do occasionally want to punch me in the nose.

Got a bone to pick with Cringe? Post your gripes below or email me: cringe@infoworld.com.

This article, “Microsoft and IE: This time it’s personal,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the crazy twists and turns of the tech industry with Robert X. Cringely’s Notes from the Field blog, and subscribe to Cringely’s Notes from the Underground newsletter.