Your desire that you want the browser to be a 'platform for applications' is fine, but is not related to the release schedule at all. How come your long term desire can't be accomplished in slower bigger steps?
Because that makes it harder to correct mistakes. The current model of releasing small, frequent updates is a really powerful mechanism for developers to explore what works and what doesn't. The things that make it are adopted and become the standard, the rest is discarded. Google and Mozilla are really pushing the web forward doing this, but Microsoft isn't playing ball.
Windows, iOS, Debian Stable, and OS X Mavericks are all "platforms for applications" and none of them need 25 feature updates a year, but fixes yes... but not whole new releases with new features every couple weeks.
Not anymore they don't. But that's because those platforms are actually quite feature complete and have been for a long time, if not from the beginning. The web however is just barely starting to be able to render graphics and play sound. They've got a long way to go, that's why it would be nice if things didn't take another decade to mature.
The 'web' is no more going to bring about that future than Java did. Especially in a world where hardware vendors are actively seeking to prevent it. (ie Expect Apple to limit the functionality of its iOS browser the minute it starts to threaten app store revenue in a credible way.)
I highly doubt that. I think the moment a vendor starts shipping a lesser web experience in a world where the web is increasingly more important, they will see a drop in adoption and sales.