To answer your a)... Because most users don't think about their browser and hence use whatever the default is. OEMs will likely never bundle Firefox, but there

To answer your a)... Because most users don't think about their browser and hence use whatever the default is. OEMs will likely never bundle Firefox, but there is a chance that they'll bundle Chrome since it has Google's name behind it. Hence, Chrome rescues users (developers?) from IE. As for your b)... I agree totally. Chrome is nothing but an application delivery platform for Google apps that is disguised as a browser. Which is all the more motivation for Google to pursue bundling deals with OEMs.