So MS's plan is to put a rebranded Chrome browser on Windows? Will that keep people from downloading Chrome? Then what incentive will G have to keep improving Chrome?
The incentive for Google was always to have the web platform at feature and performance parity with "walled gardens" like app stores and native applications. Because that gets content on the web where it can be indexed, and monetised as search results etc.
Therefore, it doesn't much matter to Google if it's Chrome, or a rebranded Chrome, or Safari, or Internet Explorer that keeps getting better, as long as something does and people use it.
They will continue to work on Chrome because they support more than the Windows platform. They will also not want to become dependent on Microsoft again, especially considering the rendering engine isn't that important for their mutual competition as the rest of the browser, such as extension and plug-in architectures are.
Good question. My guess is they saw most users installing Chrome or FF as the first or second thing on a new Windows install, and were tired of reimplementing Chrome features only to still look bad next to Chrome and FF with ever-changing web "standards".
