Browsers Just Another OS

Interesting reading what Mozilla have planned for Firefox version 3.0 and beyond in this article for CIO.com: Firefox 3.0 Opens Door to Web Apps, Mozilla Says

It is becoming apparent that in order for online applications to go to the next level and truly be successful, they will require a much greater level of cooperation from the browsers. Coincidentally, I only just posted a comment on Michael Jung's blog on the problems that online applications must overcome, namely they are Internet connection dependent.

But if browsers are going to become more specialised and offer similar services that an operating system does, then aren't they just another operating system? And with that in mind, what is the point of downloading an operating system (a browser) to run on an operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac etc.)? Will browsers become THE operating system that runs on your computing device whether that be a PDA, smartphone, or PC?

And with that in mind again, and going off at a complete tangent, how exactly would that threaten Microsoft's monopoly Michael? They have beaten off many OS competitors over the years.