You’ve got to love a company that can poke fun at itself. After years of being considered mediocre or worse in the tech world, Microsoft Internet Explorer is ready to make a comeback. With its release of IE 10, the browser is finally getting positive reviews, including Gizmodo’s “IE 10 is fast, fluid and tons of fun,” as well as “Internet Explorer 10 beats the competition on Windows 8 tablets,” from Wired. And what better way to get the word out than to acknowledge its previous mistakes?

“Internet Explorer sucks… less,” claims the humorous video posted on a Microsoft-sponsored Web site with a just-as-comical URL, browseryoulovedtohate.com. The full video is a must-see for anyone who wants a good chuckle. A man who fits the bill for a stereotypical geek, sitting at his home PC, surfing the Web obsessively to add his two cents of, “IE Sucks,” anywhere he can. Even when he sees the Tweet, “IE adopts an island of kittens and donates them all to children everywhere!!!” he must reply with his standard response. It is only after reading another Twitter post announcing IE has updated a new karaoke Web standard that he acknowledges IE may not suck as much as it used to, after which the camera pans to a plaque naming him 2008’s karaoke grand master at Coco’s Bar and Grill. What a winner!

Internet users may finally be catching on that IE has surpassed its former security glitches and other issues. In a poll conducted online by Nakedsecurity.com, just over 43 percent of voters say IE “doesn’t suck as much as it used to, but it’s about the same as other browsers.” Demonstrating Microsoft still has a ways to go, however, more than 45 percent of online voters said IE sucks as much as it always did, and only 11 percent say it sucks less than other browsers.

What does it mean to suck less? Well, for starters, IE has started offering more updates. After Microsoft defeated Netscape as the one and only browser of choice in 2001, it let five years pass between the release of Internet Explorer 6 and IE7. In contrast, Google Chrome was launched four years ago and is already on version 23. Still, by launching 5 versions in the past six years, IE is definitely making an improvement.

Likewise, the newer versions of IE have eliminated the security holes that riddled IE6, although the reputation has carried. Speed has also improved significantly with the past two versions. Microsoft’s challenge now it to get people, who have grown comfortable with competitors such as Firefox, Chrome and Safari, to give IE another chance.

Samantha Lile

Samantha Lile is a 2002 Missouri State University graduate of journalism and mass media. She has served as a reporter and editor for various newspapers throughout her journalism career. She made the leap into writing full-time after working for a major financial institution since 2000.

Because of her banking background, Samantha is knowledgeable in finance reporting, but is also strong in commentaries, personal profiles, youth studies, horticulture, history and entertainment-related works.

Samantha lives in Ozark, Mo. with her husband of nine years, four dogs and two cats.

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