An article with slightly more commentary (and information) on the methodology of the bloggers who came up with this report is at Internet Explorer 6 users.

This commentary reveals that the "IQs" were determined by a test on a website. That alone is "self selecting" for stupidity because functionally intelligent people don't click on quizes on random sites. (i.e. the ones who do are mostly FaceBookers, most of whom click on every piece of malware someone "sends" them: another self-selection factor.) An alternate interpretation might be that people intelligent enough to "try a new browser" might also be "adveturous enough" to take a crap test while more conservative ones of equal "IQ" would be less likely.

Any conclusions are completely invalid without considering how many (and who) made the change from IE6 (obsolete 5 years ago) to a later IE version. So far as either report mentions, the "researchers" were apparently unaware that there were other versions of IE.

If they really were looking for "stupid" they might have investigated the report 74% of all rootkit infections originate on XP PCs They likely would have missed on their analysis of that one too, and shot themselves in the foot - or in the ass.

The "infected WinXP" machines are nearly all "pirated copies" whose operators have never been able to get security patches. Support for legal copies, still used by a few, has dwindled but remains even now sort of a low-grade mediocre fair. An unpatched version sits right in front of the fan and new shit flies in daily.

A similar situation appeared a few years ago when Mickey tried to eliminate Win98. At the time, '98 was the last version legally exportable without hard-to-get licenses, so it was the dominant version in several "developing countries." Microsludge was pretty much forced to continue limited support for the "foreign users." By the time WinXP was on the way out, dear old Mickey reported, with good evidence, that more than 90% of remaining Win98 copies in use were pirated.

When WinXP appeared, it was under export restrictions, so the ******* just bootlegged all the copies sold there. (They've also pirated some patches, according to reports?) The "infected machines" probably are predominantly "offshore" although there probably are quite a few legal copies that are among the maimed and contageous.

A recent additional article might be appropriate: More Harm Than Good?

[No real reason for this post, so don't take it seriously. It's midnight here and I got bored.]

John