Thanks for your detailed reply!
Regarding web based applications I have a quite different view. However I first want to say I also use GSuite quite extensively and have abandoned MS Office completely. When switching computer some years ago I didn’t even bother trying to transfer my Office license. That said I use Open Office much more than GSuite. GSuite is great when you corporate on projects, e.g. for school, but I very much prefer having my own documents and the software I run locally on my own computer. It has several huge benefits.
As several other people have said you don’t always have a stable internet connection. Even if my internet connection is only down for a few minutes I find that extremely distracting when I need to access my documents. I can find it hard to get back into the flow after such an incident. And that is nothing compared to users who’s connection constantly fluctuate.
The other big disadvantage of web based apps is that they can be updated at any time. Don’t get me wrong, I love updates and I am probably one of the first people (not counting Trimble employees) to try the new SketchUp version each year. However I hate it when updates are forced upon me when I am trying to get something done. Even small changes like button being moved somewhere else or a change in the visual style can be extremely distracting and hinder productive. For desktop apps I sometimes turn of automatic updates just not to have the UI changing for me. Ironically, one of the reasons why it took me so long to reply to this was that Firefox forced an update onto me and I had problems browsing the web for some time before I could restore some key aspects of the interface (contrast, saving browsing sessions). I not only want but need to be in control over updates to my software. One of the things I absolutely love about [desktop] SketchUp is that I can install and try new versions while still having access to the old version. (Please don’t ever change that!)
The UI of SketchUp Free will be covered in another thread because of how much there is to say about it.
Concerning performance you need to squeeze out as much as possible from the computer for 3D modeling. Unlike e.g. a word processor any performance drop has large implications for the user. I think this isn’t any less true for hobby users who don’t have any deadlines but can just continue draw at the same project for how long they like, and who often have yet to learn how to properly organize a model with components and layers for best performance.
Edit: I’ve now created a new thread for the SketchUp Free interface: