The Ariane 6 should be able to lift about 13 tons to geostationary orbit when it goes into use in '06. The current Ariane 5 is lighter than that. The article did say that the payload version would by far be the heaviest lift rocket in the world, but I wonder if the 100 ton figure is a typo.
No, thats the weight of the current shuttle. The shuttle launch system wastes most of the energy used to put the shuttle and payload in orbit when the shuttle returns from orbit. It is much more efficient to use the system to send up a payload that stays in orbit.
The 100 ton figure probably means to Low Earth Orbit, not to GEO.
Also there should be far less drag on liftoff for the inline vehicles.