In this case, google can pull off something like OP says because it's dominating the market.
> Also, none of specific reasons people opposed Microsoft’s policies with IE, like it’s attempts to lock people into windows-only APIs (ActiveX etc) apply today.
Chrome implements plenty of chrome only API. They like a standard (or propose one), they implement it, use it on their projects like google doc, and let the competition deal with the mess.
Sure, there is a long tail of web API's like this but they tend to be very specialized. They are easily avoided and ignored by most web developers, who likely have no need for them in the first place. (Both WebGL and WebGPU are arguably in this category - you are unlikely to need them for your website.)
This is nothing like the situation was with IE6. Back then basic functionality was half-broken and it was hard to get anything done without a pile of hacks.
> This is nothing like the situation was with IE6. Back then basic functionality was half-broken and it was hard to get anything done without a pile of hacks.
Causes are not 1 to 1, but consequences are the same: monopoly leads to abuse, abuse lead to some site not working with Firefox, consommers needs being ignored by google and them abusing their dominant position to pass what they want as standard, or just destroy API they don't like (see the latest adblock scandal).
In this case, google can pull off something like OP says because it's dominating the market.
> Also, none of specific reasons people opposed Microsoft’s policies with IE, like it’s attempts to lock people into windows-only APIs (ActiveX etc) apply today.
Chrome implements plenty of chrome only API. They like a standard (or propose one), they implement it, use it on their projects like google doc, and let the competition deal with the mess.