How about no default browser? Offer a browser selection screen during the install process or on first login. Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, Opera, etc. Offering a level playing field for browsers is very important. I don't see any good reason Ubuntu has to dictate a default at this point.
Hm... did anyone notice how this is a repost of a post on ubergizmo which starts with:<p>"<i>We have word</i> that Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 might not feature Firefox as the browser of choice, ..."
From the default install, maybe. Why does every misleading article forget to add that. Canonical does not remove anything, you can always install it back from the repos.<p>Sounds like these articles are just looking for controversy.
I'd love it if they did. I've basically stopped using Firefox in recent times. I currently use Chromium though, not Chrome. Chromium is so much faster than Firefox, and the UI takes up quite a bit less vertical space.
I'd be happy if Canonical actually managed to ship a browser with great font rendering out of the box. Oh, and a 64-bit build would be the icing on the cake.