There is plenty of action and opportunity in the handset and netbook space that doesn't require fully building out a desktop OS. Google can avoid a head-on with Microsoft where it's strong (on the desktop) and compete where Redmond is weak (on mobile platforms).

Using Chrome as an environment that competes with the operating system as an enabler of applications makes much more sense than turning Android into a desktop OS. It also has the potential to support applications capable of running on any platform that supports the Chrome browser.

I think that approach makes a lot of sense, but is not limited to Chrome. I keep expecting Apple to do something with on Windows that gives the company a greater role on that operating system.

Internet Explorer could someday support extensions typing it to Microsoft's cloud computing and web-based applications, though anti-trust considerations make it hard for Microsoft to do anything that might lock-out other browsers.

With Google, Microsoft, and Apple all claiming their new browsers significantly improve the speed of Java apps, it is easy to imagine the companies plan to link their browsers to an applications strategy.