New York Times on Bertrand Serlet and His Microsoft Counterpart, Steven Sinofsky

Interesting profile by John Markoff in today’s Times, comparing Apple’s Bertrand Serlet (senior VP for software engineering) with Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky, who’s leading their Windows development:

One software developer who has worked at both companies — and asked not to be identified because he still consults for Microsoft — compared the two men’s approaches to the difference between martial marching band music and jazz.

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.

★ Tuesday, 5 June 2007