GOORAMA!

Think Internet Explorer sucks? You’re not alone, and yes, Microsoft is painfully aware of its home-grown web browser’s reputation, as this new ad makes clear.

Simply titled “Do you know this guy?” the video shows a typical basement dweller prolifically sending comments and @replies left and right, proclaiming that “IE sucks” over and over, occasionally punctuating his nuanced thoughts with all-caps or multiple exclamation marks. Eventually he comes around — a little — when IE creates a new “Karaoke standard” for the web (something, to be clear, it hasn’t yet done).

The ad directs users to a Microsoft site, browseryoulovedtohate, which promotes Internet Explorer 10 — the latest version of the browser that runs on Windows 8 devices — as a much improved over its predecessors. It makes cheeky reference to IE’s soiled reputation among browsers in its navigation headings: “Curious?” “It’s Good Now” and “No, Really.”

The campaign is refreshingly honest about the history of Internet Explorer, which once had a lock on the web-browser market, but has steadily lost market share to the likes of Firefox and later Google Chrome. While IE is still tops in terms of the number of devices it’s on, Chrome recently became the world’s most popular browser by usage.

What do you think IE’s reputation as the “browser for people who don’t know any better?” And has your experience with IE10 been good? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/11/29/ie10-ad/