There is no doubt that Google did a nice job of promoting their “Chrome” web browser. Practically everyone is considering this front page news, and for a good reason, too. Whatever you think of it, Google, primarily a web search and web application company, introducing a web browser is big news. The interesting part of all the coverage is the theories about why Google made this move.

Many of the theories around propose that Chrome is really the long-awaited “Google OS” in the form of a platform for web applications. A couple of days ago, I wrote my own theory, which proposed that Chrome is really about pushing other web browsers forward to better support web applications in general. Both of these theories are really quite similar, in that they are both making it easier for people to use web applications to replace desktop applications.

The real difference is that one theory suggests that Google’s Chrome will become the platform for web applications, meaning that it will have specific, unique features that will benefit Google applications, and perhaps nothing else. In the other theory, my theory, Google would use Chrome to push all browsers along, something which would be beneficial to all. Only time will tell what their plans are (after all, they may not even know yet), but I want to give a warning if Google follows the path of creating their own custom platform: Avoid it. Just avoid it.

Why? The web is a chance to redefine applications from a piece of software that runs on a particular OS to just a piece of software. Right now, almost by definition, web applications are cross platform. This is our chance to keep it like that. If Google introduces their own custom platform for their web applications, that is a major step in the wrong direction. It is almost guaranteed to end up with a mess of “features” introduced by Google to be used by Google. We have to keep the platform maker separate and independent from the software maker if we want to maintain the standards of the web. No single group should even be able to dominate both fields. If they do, consumers lose.

All of this is not to say that Chrome is evil. If the point, as I suspect it is, is just to push web browsers into the future, then that is great.  We just have to keep a watchful eye and not let Google get too much power.