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June 6, 2007

people

Bertrand Serlet vs. Steven Sinofsky: fight fight fight

Posted Jun. 6, ’07, 7:02 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Apple » People

Bertrand Serlet The New York Times has a piece comparing senior vice president of software engineering at Apple Bertrand Serlet and senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group at Microsoft Steven Sinofksy. It’s centered around these two guys making the desktop OS relevant in this Web 2.0 world. I find that angle rather uninteresting because the idea that the web will be and do everything is still more marketing hype than reality at this stage and until some major shakeups happen, the desktop OS is still going to be a million times more efficient for most tasks.

The really interesting part of the article (which Gruber has already pointed out) is:

Mr. Sinofsky’s approach, he said, is meticulously planned out from the beginning, with a tight focus on meeting deadlines — a crucial objective after the delay-plagued Vista project — but with little room for flexibility. In contrast, the atmosphere inside Apple’s software engineering ranks has been much more improvisational.

“Bertrand Serlet likes the process to be a little chaotic,” said one Apple programmer, who insisted he not be identified because of company restrictions on public statements by employees. “There’s a strong dependence on people making the right judgment calls the first time.”

Intrigue aside, it’s an insightful difference. Tightly defined schedules tend to frustrate and inhibit software engineers more than keep projects on track. Poorly planned and timed phases end up hurting them more than a schedule slippage which might be made up at another phase. Control is definitely a must to ensure the project eventually ships, but meticulous planning can be detrimental.

On the other hand, Sinofsky is an graduate of my own alma mater, University of Massachusetts at Amherst (the Zoo to those in the know). That Massachusetts theme seems to even pervade the Times article itself.

Both men are the best of a technical elite. “Bertrand is wicked smart,” said Dan’l Lewin, a Microsoft corporate vice president who worked with Mr. Serlet at Next. “He was one of the bright lights.”

Wicked smart? That’s wicked awesome.


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