"... That means Google is slowly but surely working to erode Microsoft's monopoly. If browsers provide a high-quality, universally popular, OS-independent platform for applications, OS vendors no longer have any particular advantage in the desktop applications market. ..."
On the assumption that most users use this browser.
More browsers, more market split. The question nobody has answered is how is this new Chrome browser going to get on computers? Downloaded by users? Mandated by companies? or shipped on new operating systems?