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Sure, but as soon a we accept we need a browser it becomes a pretty weird argument to say it has to be kept minimal and can't have convenience features.

If the OS 1. has to include a browser for the aforementioned reasons and at the same time 2. must not include a browser because that would harm competition between browsers, what else can we do?

Most of the comments seem to revolve around pre-installed browser or not, but doesn't the article revolve around inability to uninstall?

If I can uninstall then I do not especially care if it is pre-installed.

So, just some basic: HTTP implementation, TLS, Render engine; JS API, V8, ... ??

I'd say that is a big piece of software already.

Mobile separates a WebView component from a standalone browser app.

As I pointed out pretty much all modern desktop development frameworks include web view components, it's not particular to mobile.

I use Chocolately to install browsers on new OS instances.