Bertrand Serlet, one of the major forces behind OS X, to leave Apple
Bertrand Serlet, senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering and one of the developers of OS X, is leaving Apple after a 22-year working relationship with Steve Jobs. Serlet started working with Jobs in 1989 as part of NeXT and made the move to Apple in 1997 when Jobs returned to the company.
"I've worked with Steve for 22 years and have had an incredible time developing products at both NeXT and Apple, but at this point, I want to focus less on products and more on science," Serlet said in a press release issued by Apple this morning.
Serlet will be succeeded by Craig Federighi, the current vice president of Mac Software Engineering, who will report directly to Jobs.
We at TUAW wish Serlet the best of luck in his future endeavors, and thank him for the role he played in giving us OS X. We also wish Federighi much luck in his new position. With the spotlight focusing on Mac software again with the future release of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion," we look forward to seeing what he brings to the platform.
A video of Jobs and Serlet speaking at WWDC in 2006 about how Microsoft has copied Mac OS X, pointed out by MacStories, can be seen after the break.
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Bertrand Serlet, senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering and one of the developers of OS X, is leaving Apple after a 22-year...
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It's not so much his eye but one side of his face doesn't match the other. Put your hand over one side then the other. Two completely different people. Two Face!
March 23 2011 at 3:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI don't know for sure, but it could be that he suffered from Bell's Palsy. It's a nerve issue that causes paralysis on one side of the face. Some people recover fully, others have severe consequences. If the particular case of palsy is too severe, it can occasionally result in the loss of an eye (because the eyelid won't close like it's supposed to). In almost every case, there is a somewhat noticeable loss of muscle control or slackening on the side of the face affected.
March 23 2011 at 5:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe first sign that OSX is going 3D! Mr. Serlet was not much help in this area.
March 23 2011 at 2:09 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replythe future is in the i... iOS
March 23 2011 at 12:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHe looks like a Bond villian!!!.....sorry couldn't help myself. He is obviously a genius and make loads more money than most people. Still I think the picture would have been better if he was stroking a white cat. :)
March 23 2011 at 12:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyi remember watching this keynote, and for the longest time, i couldnt stop saying "suh-fuh-ree" hahah.
i wish him well on his future endeavors. he's helped made a great OS and hopefully we dont see any impact of his leaving on any future mac os.
I agree. I think the "iOS-ification" of Mac OS X didn't please him too well. But I quite remember him trashing Internet Explorer heavily when Safari 4 + Snow Leopard were being introduced at WWDC. That's when I first got introduced to his work. An amazing force at Apple, and he'll be missed.
March 23 2011 at 11:51 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHope he's not going over to Microsoft now!!! Nah, that wouldn't be science. I'm sure he's been a really intelligent part of Mac OSX. Sorry he's leaving. Mac OSX is damn good right now.
March 23 2011 at 11:44 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPerhaps he left because he was saddened by the fact that Apple no longer put that much focus on Mac OS X than before. So he is moving on something else...
March 23 2011 at 11:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySimplicated,
I thought the same thing when I read this, and I really hope it's not the case.
It could just be that he's looking for a new challenge, though. OS X is a very mature operating system now, so there's not a whole lot of major innovation happening from version to version. Some of these guys are great at being revolutionary, but they get bored once the platform has grown up. I don't blame him if that is the case. He might have other great inventions or projects left in him.
Maybe we can stop the comments about Serlet's glass eye right now, and appreciate all the hard work that he's put into OS X over the years, even before it was called OS X.
March 23 2011 at 10:47 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMaybe he created "i"OS!? ZING!!! Betcha' hate that... someone made an eye joke!
March 23 2011 at 5:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGuess I could have called it an iJoke? Bahahahaha... I(Eye) am so funny! Oh, POW!! Another two eye jokes..
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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