In Metro, IE is tied in pretty well, and currently there aren't any other browsers that work in Metro. On tablets (only Metro), the browser would have to be compiled to run on ARM processors (assumedly), so the barrier to entry is perhaps higher than now.
I think that it's likely there will be alternative browsers (assuming MS doesn't lock them out), but it may well be a similar situation to the iPad, where these browsers are really just a skinned UIWebView, rather than a different rendering engine.
IE was always tied to Windows, but that never prevented other browsers from running.
On tablets (only Metro), the browser would have to be compiled to run on ARM processors (assumedly), so the barrier to entry is perhaps higher than now.
Sure, but that's hardly locking browsers out, and besides Mobile Safari already runs on ARM (as does Firefox).
I think that it's likely there will be alternative browsers (assuming MS doesn't lock them out), but it may well be a similar situation to the iPad, where these browsers are really just a skinned UIWebView, rather than a different rendering engine.
But why? Just because Apple locks other browsers, MS will too? I don't get why you assume that.
Hmm? Why?