I think there are a lot of people in this boat. Cascading style sheets are boring. Java is difficult. JavaScript is limited, some would say crippled. Shockwave is just Director.
Layers are for graphic designers.
The geeks want some new toys. A flipped-around browser would be wonderful to play with. Microsoft and Netscape have promised to make this possible, with libraries that display web content in any app, but their promises haven't come to fruition. There are a ton of compelling applications for an open browser. I find myself scanning the net now for other browsers.