CES 2012: Steve Ballmer announces Cut the Rope game for IE9 Previously a hugely popular mobile phone app, Cut the Rope will be the latest in Microsoft's bid to use its Internet Explorer 9 browser as a vehicle to showcase "the beauty of the web." In collaboration with Windows 7, the new web app will unlock new levels of the game that are exclusive to IE9 users who "pin" the bookmark for cuttherope.ie to the Windows taskbar. The announcement formed part of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's last keynote to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft and show organisers the Consumer Electronics Association have announced that 2012 will be the last year the Windows-maker exhibits at the world's biggest technology show. Elsewhere in the keynote Mr Ballmer emphasised the virtues of the company's Xbox 360 games console and its tie-up with Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia. He told delegates that the new operating system Windows 8 would run on more devices and offer a better experience than ever before. The new web app runs in "HTML5," which Google, Apple and Microsoft have all said represents the future for programming on the web. The hope is that more programmes will be written in the "markup language," which is compatible with all modern web browsers, rather than as proprietary "apps." Microsoft says that the new Cut the Rope game "stretches the limits of HTML5." In a blog post, the company explained "Created by ZeptoLab, the concept behind the game is simple: Om Nom, a curiously cute green monster, is hungry, and you can use your mouse to manipulate ropes, airbags and bubbles to feed him candy, and collect stars along the way for more points." The game has already been download by more than 60 million mobile phone users.