Goodbye Bertrand - Senior VP of Mac Software Engineering Leaves Apple

The man who has pretty much shaped your Mac OSX experience has announced that he is stepping down as VP of Mac Software Engineering. After 14 years working at Apple, Bertrand Serlet is stepping down and leaving Craig Federighi in charge of the day-to-day work.

From the statement released by Apple, Serlet is going on to pursue other endeavors in the field of Science (Serlet has a doctorate in Computer Science). Also of note, Serlet does not see his absence creating any waves and all should be "seemless" for the upcoming release of OS X - Lion.

As a user I can appreciate all the work that went into OS X all the way up to Snow Leopard. So to that end, thank you Mr. Serlet.

You can read more about Bertrand Serlet here.

Full press release after the jump.

Apple via Mashable

Bertrand Serlet to Leave Apple

CUPERTINO, California—March 23, 2011—Apple® today announced that Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Mac® Software Engineering, will be leaving the company. Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will assume Serlet’s responsibilities and report to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. Federighi is responsible for the development of Mac OS® X and has been managing the Mac OS software engineering group for the past two years.

“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,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “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.”

Federighi worked at NeXT, followed by Apple, and then spent a decade at Ariba where he held several roles including vice president of Internet Services and chief technology officer. He returned to Apple in 2009 to lead Mac OS X engineering. Federighi holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Serlet joined Apple in 1997, and has been involved in the definition, development and creation of Mac OS X, the world’s most advanced operating system. Before joining Apple, Serlet spent four years at Xerox PARC, then joined NeXT in 1989. Serlet holds a doctorate in Computer Science from the University of Orsay, France.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

New MacBook Pros: Rumor Round 1

Seems like it's Apple Rumor Monday around these parts, but here's the first (hopefully the only) MacBook Pro refresh rumor: New MacBook Pros out March 1, 2011.

If MacRumors is correct, then you really shouldn't be buying a MacBook Pro just yet.

via MacRumors

Back to Mac Apple Event

In about an hour we here at The Poor Mac will be meta-liveblogging the event.

If speculation and rumors are correct today we'll see the new Mac OS X release, dubbed "Lion" by the bloggosphere, a much needed update to the MacBook Air, and almost definitely the official announcement of the latest iLife software bundle. Beyond that it's a matter of specifics.

What not to expect today?

Well I'm not expecting any news of iPhone on Verizon or any iPad hardware updates. Neither should you.

As the name suggests this will be all about the Mac platform and a major update to the OSX line.

What I'd like to see?

The only obvious choice is to make "Lion" more iOS friendly and blur the line between the operating systems. This means a touch friendly OS that offers the convenience of the iOS platform with the power and stability to run full applications that we enjoy in OSX.

Well in either case we'll see soon enough. What would you like to see in the next iteration of OSX? Drop us a line in the comments.

The Cardboard Box Hackintosh

This is the kind of ingenuity that we not just celebrate here at PMB - it inspires us! Hyperbole aside this is one hackintosh that we definitely approve of.

via TUAW

Mmmmm.... Stickers

Who doesn't love customizing their favorite gadgets? But sometimes we get a little carried away. Thankfully most of these Etsy decals are full of win instead of full of gaudy. Sure a purist will feel like we've somehow desecrated the temple of Ive, but how could you resist putting on a new face when they look like this.

Personally I think it's time my Macbook got a facelift a la Totoro.

Etsy via I New Idea

Steam Coming to Mac?

As heard on CNET.com, Valve has been hinting at a Mac release for their last game in the Half-Life series. Their biggest hint to date - a spoof of the (in)famous "I'm a Mac" ads (picture above; credit: Valve) seems to suggest that not only is Half-Life coming to Mac but it may also bring Steam along with it.

Up to this point Steam, a cloud-based gaming community that allowed users to play full games on any computer, has been a PC only platform. As far as requirements go, today's Macs are ready to tackle gaming applications as they currently meet most/all minimum system requirements.

All in all, if you're a gamer and a Mac user; you may no longer have to compromise as far as gaming is concerned.

Happy Birthday

It was 26 years ago today. Thank you Mr. Jobs