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Topic: Apple

Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

Summary: Apple on Wednesday said that Bertrand Serlet, the father of the Mac OS X, will leave the company after 22 years. The future of Apple increasingly becomes about the iOS that powers the iPhone and iPad.

Larry Dignan

By for Between the Lines |

Apple on Wednesday said that Bertrand Serlet, the father of the Mac OS X, will leave the company after 22 years. The departure is symbolic in many ways as the future of Apple increasingly becomes about the iOS that powers the iPhone and iPad.

According to a statement, Serlet will be replaced by Craig Federighi, vice president of Mac Software Engineering. Federighi will report to CEO Steve Jobs like Serlet did.

Serlet said:

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. Craig has done a great job managing the Mac OS team for the past two years, Lion is a great release and the transition should be seamless.

On the surface, Serlet's departure looks like a changing of the guard. Of course, Serlet wants to do think tank-ish things. But at a time when the Mac OS X plays second fiddle to the iOS, the Serlet departure does make you wonder.

Federighi worked at NeXT and wound up at Apple. Simply put, the Mac OS X will be fine. It's just that the Mac OS X won't play the prominent role it once did at Apple.

Topics: Apple, Hardware, Mobile OS, Operating Systems, Software

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105 comments
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  • Meh.

    I can't see anything to read into here...

    Guy's worked there 22 years, seen his company absolutely blow up? I'm thinking stock options and annuities will allow this guy to live *comfortably* for life. Why not quit the grindstone and sail, travel, tinker, whatever he wants to do?

    I hope in 20 years I can "retire" as comfortably as I imagine he is.
    UrNotPayingAttention
    Reply Vote

    • Yes, nothing wrong with him leaving, but, might we see large all-in-one iOS

      devices? How about an all-in-on large screen iOS device with touch screen instead of mouse, keyboard, quad-core Arm, etc, etc, AND much cheaper than competing Windows devices.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

        @DonnieBoy <br>You are thinking like a consumer. what about us content creators? do you know how much this news scares me?
        afficionado
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

        @DonnieBoy

        First of all, if Apple ever released a device that was cheaper than a Windows device, that was a temporary abberation that they fixed immediately and fired whowever was responsible. One thing that's perfectly clear is that low price is not Apple's goal.

        You may be comfortable hanging your arm over the desk trying to access a touch screen monitor 30 inches away. I am not, which is why I appreciate my keyboard and mouse. I'm not sure how anyone can advocate touch as a way to get text into a PC, but trust me, if that's your preference, you are in a very small minority.
        1DaveN
        Reply Vote

      • DaveN_MVP: Apple was the low price leader for tablets in case you did not

        notice. I think you will see them as very willing to leverage the supply chain and undercut competition even on desktops. Mouses are cheap, so Apple could offer both touch screen AND mouse. But, I disagree that using a touch screen would be a problem other than maybe you have to take you hands off of the keyboard for a bit. Why keep your monitor 30 inches away? Use a smaller monitor a little closer.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • afficionado: I would think that content creators would love the idea of

        more devices on which to consume content.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

        @DonnieBoy How about a touch pad keyboard? Or an app that would allow your iPad2 to become a wireless touchpad to your Mac if you so choose. Very Star Trek.
        burbank_jones
        Reply Vote

      • Come on, think it through.

        @DonnieBoy
        "How about an all-in-on large screen iOS device with touch screen instead of mouse, keyboard"

        Yes, because waving your arms around in front of you all day is a brilliant way to work. And not having a legitimate keyboard to type on? Yeah, throw that in.

        A lot of us have legitimate work to do. Maybe you have the luxury of pecking at buttons on a touchscreen all day, but for those whose job doesn't consist of standing at a kiosk, this isn't going to cut it.
        dgurney
        Reply Vote

      • Consuming, not creating.

        @DonnieBoy
        But Apple is THE brand of choice for "content creators." What are we to do now?
        dgurney
        Reply Vote

      • Desktop iOS?

        @DonnieBoy

        My gosh, think of ergonomics! Spending your day reaching across the desk everytime you want to do something on the computer? Aching shoulder, back, and everything else. This would absolutely not be a worker. Now, perhaps transfer the touch to an attached touchpad (graphic designers have been using something like this for decades) and you might make it feasible.
        boomchuck1
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

        @DonnieBoy Unless I missed something, I don't see anything in this article about doing away with OS X and replacing it with iOS powered devices... the exchange started with this comment reminds me of the dinner scene in the Nutty Professor, when Carla Purdy came to have dinner with the Klumps, and in 10 minutes, they were arguing about where the kids would be getting married!
        Congratulations to Bertrand Serlet, and best of luck to Craig Federighi!
        unclefixer@...
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

        @DonnieBoy This is just plain retarded... or as HP calls it: Touchfart!
        Graham Ellison
        Reply Vote

      • Nope

        @Afficionado: Honestly, I don't see how it can. In fact, I think it will make content creation easier, not harder. But then, maybe I have a more open mind (and no, I don't mean a hole in my head.)
        Vulpinemac
        Reply Vote

      • iOS still cannot do everything OS X can do ...

        @DonnieBoy ... iOS may very well be able to meet the needs of 90% of Apple's customers but that is not the same as meeintg 90% of the needs of ALL Apple Customers.

        Lame and thin variations of fully-functional OSes can do a lot to drop the price and increase the portability and accessibility of personal computing but there will always be a segment of users who need more power and more capacity than what iOS can provide.

        Apple cannot afford to abandon OSX and let those special needs users learnt hat Windows will do EVERYTHING they need for the same price as an entry-level iPad.
        M Wagner
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

      @chmod 777 Totally agree. It is what it is.
      GeoffMichael
      Reply Vote

  • Translation: Can we just have OS X go away please

    so we no longer feel adequacy issues when using Windows?
    fr_gough
    Reply Vote

    • That is exactly how I read it too

      @frgough@...
      You can just tell from the undertone that, without even mentioning Microsoft or Windows, the author feels totally inadequate when using anything not made by Apple. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who read it that way.

      Viva la Apple!!
      edtimes
      Reply Vote

    • ROTFL. That would leave with me no computer!

      My Mac has no Microsoft software at all.
      Laraine Anne Barker
      Reply Vote

    • nice infantile projection

      People who know what they're doing (and can think critically) use the tools at hand and evaluate them on their own merits.<br><br>They don't make fourth-grader remarks about commercial products, as if they personally designed them and are insulted when they're eschewed.<br><br>If you'd evaluate products on specific criteria and recognize good ideas wherever you find them, you could demand better of even your favorites. For example, Apple gets away with many glaring design defects because fawning adherents are afraid to call them out. So instead of getting feedback that might inspire them to fix a few things, Apple hears the same old "elegance" and "intuitive" platitudes that just don't ring true.
      dgurney
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple's changing of the Mac OS X guard: Time to take stock as iOS leads

        @dgurney

        *applause*

        I like your thought process.
        jahcriado
        Reply Vote
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