simple - performance is often garbage. web apps use more cpu and memory than a native app. people should not need an M1 MacBook or better just to edit a document. (see top comment)

The only reason people build “apps” in the browser to begin with is because it simplifies the development for the engineering team. Easier to ship, easier to update, write once, etc. Sometimes the user benefits, but rarely.

The other problem I have is it blurs the lines between data on your machine (private) and data that is in the cloud. not everybody wants all their data in the cloud. When you’re working with a “app” in the web browser it’s not always clear.

The browser is for browsing the Internet, it is a tool specialized for that, it has nothing to do with being an operating system. Being able to boot an OS within it does not make it an OS either. It just adds an unnecessary and potentially detrimental (to both performance and security) layer: OS -> browser -> OS, which is just silly. If you do not see the absurdity, let us consider this: OS -> browser -> OS -> browser -> OS, ad infinitum. :P