Avie Tevanian plans to depart from Apple
Avie Tevanian to leave Apple, S.F. Chronicle reports
March 27, 2006 - Apple's software engineering chief of nearly a decade, Avadis "Avie" Tevanian, Jr., will leave the company at the end of March, the San Francisco Chronicle reported tonight on a blog on its Web site.
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Apple confirmed Tevanian's departure today, according to a post by Chronicle reporter Alan T. Saracevic on the newspaper's technology blog, The Tech Chronicles.
It is not immediately clear why Tevanian is departing. According to Apple, he will leave to "pursue other interests" the Chronicle said.
"He plans to take some time off in the interim," Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications Katie Cotton told the newspaper in an email. "He hasn't left yet, though. His last official day is March 31."
Tevanian came to Apple as senior vice president of Software Engineering in February 1997 after the company acquired NeXT. He was named chief software technology officer in 2003.
A Carnegie Mellon University Ph.D, Tevanian had a key role in developing the Mach kernel and then the NeXTSTEP operating system. At Apple, he was instrumental in the development of Mac OS X at Apple.
[Special notice to readers: Due to technical difficulties, any email that was sent to Think Secret on Monday, March 27 will need to be resent.]
March 27, 2006 - Apple's software engineering chief of nearly a decade, Avadis "Avie" Tevanian, Jr., will leave the company at the end of March, the San Francisco Chronicle reported tonight on a blog on its Web site.
advertisement
Apple confirmed Tevanian's departure today, according to a post by Chronicle reporter Alan T. Saracevic on the newspaper's technology blog, The Tech Chronicles.
It is not immediately clear why Tevanian is departing. According to Apple, he will leave to "pursue other interests" the Chronicle said.
"He plans to take some time off in the interim," Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications Katie Cotton told the newspaper in an email. "He hasn't left yet, though. His last official day is March 31."
Tevanian came to Apple as senior vice president of Software Engineering in February 1997 after the company acquired NeXT. He was named chief software technology officer in 2003.
A Carnegie Mellon University Ph.D, Tevanian had a key role in developing the Mach kernel and then the NeXTSTEP operating system. At Apple, he was instrumental in the development of Mac OS X at Apple.
[Special notice to readers: Due to technical difficulties, any email that was sent to Think Secret on Monday, March 27 will need to be resent.]
Comments
That being said...
DUDE! WTF?
From what I know, he has done nothing but good work. I'm sure he'll produce something worthwhile.
Although the Cupertino, Calif.-based company would not reveal the motives behind Tevanian's decision, Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications Katie Cotton told the publication in an e-mail that, "He plans to take some time off in the interim. He hasn't left yet, though. His last official day is March 31."
Tevanian, who is considered an operating systems whiz, began his career at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was instrumental in the development of the Mach kernel. There he met Steve Jobs, who showed a divine interest in his skills and Mach.
After completing his Ph.D. program in only 4.5 years -- a very short time for the CMU Computer Science Ph.D. program -- he joined Jobs at NeXT, using his knowledge of the Mach kernel to form the foundation of the NEXTSTEP operating system (which later evolved into Mac OS X).
In 1997, he followed Jobs to Apple as part of the company's acquisition of NeXT and immediately went to work on developing Apple's Mac OS X operating system, for which he is largely considered the grandfather.
Unfortunately for Apple, Tevanian won't be the only senior executive to wave goodbye to the company at the end of the month. Jon Rubinstein, Senior Vice President iPod Division, is also slated to turn in his badge on the last day of the month.
Largely considered a genius by his colleagues, Rubinstein in his days at the company has presided over all aspects of hardware engineering, including Mac systems. He will be succeeded in his current role by Tony Fadell, who will report directly to Jobs. Unlike Tevanian, Rubinstein plans to retire.
It's unclear who will replace Tevanian as the company's chief of technology. His last contributions to the company will turn up this summer, when Apple unveils the next major release of its Mac OS X operating system in August -- Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Originally posted by Targon
This is major news..... Can Apple afford to lose him??
It depends. The Mach kernel was a great idea and a valid contribution to computer science, but its limitations are widely viewed as one of the reasons MacOS X does so poorly on low-level UNIX benchmarks. If this is some sort of shift of low-level OS thinking at Apple, it's possible that it could mean good things for the company in some respects.
But in general, it will definitely be a loss for Apple-- losing smart people always is. But CMU has no dearth of other new graduates to think up the next great idea.
We have an August release date now?
Originally posted by Matthew Yohe
We have an August release date now?
no, wwdc is in august. most major features will be revealed there, but the release of macos 10.5 should be at mwsf in january next year.
edit: typo
Originally posted by Kickaha
That being said...
DUDE! WTF? [/B]
You really think so?
Interesting!
Originally posted by ShadowT77
- words marked -
Nice!
MSFT can't deliver an operating system in six years and none of the senior management fsckwits responsible have either jumped or been pushed, despite the fact that the stock price has been stagnant for the best part of five years.
Avie Tevanian's team delivers 1 major OS platform and five significant revisions, plus God only knows how many patches, and he decides to leave and commune with nature or whatever rather than stick around to earn more stock options which will undoubtedly appreciate because of Apple's continuing commercial improvement.
If that isn't an example of the cosmic joke that is the Universe, I'd like to know what isÉ
Originally posted by Targon
This is major news..... Can Apple afford to lose him??
No.
Good night sweet prince.
Originally posted by anaknipedro
With the problems Vista (aka Longwind) has been having I expect OSX 10.5 to come out in August. It will be followed by an advertising blitz the likes of which only the iPod has seen. Mark my words.
Oh they damn well better advertise the crap out of OS X
Originally posted by Mark- Card Carrying FanaticRealist
Just so I'm clearÉ
MSFT can't deliver an operating system in six years and none of the senior management fsckwits responsible have either jumped or been pushed, despite the fact that the stock price has been stagnant for the best part of five years.
Avie Tevanian's team delivers 1 major OS platform and five significant revisions, plus God only knows how many patches, and he decides to leave and commune with nature or whatever rather than stick around to earn more stock options which will undoubtedly appreciate because of Apple's continuing commercial improvement.
If that isn't an example of the cosmic joke that is the Universe, I'd like to know what isÉ
Post of the week.
Edison devloped the light bulb, but it was those who came after him that improved on his design and theories that gave us longer lasting, more powerful bulbs, halogen bulbs, neon lights, etc.
2) MS emplyees complains over their bosses
3) Apple loses a major leader in their OS development team, stating he wants to pursue "other interests"
***whistles***
Second, he had been removed from "day to day" management responsibility a while ago.
Third, possibly he and The Steve had differing opinions about the future.
Fourth, he's rich! He's cashed in over $100M in stock in the past 3-4 months alone. I'm thinking...I'm mid-forties (married? kids?), accomplished what I wanted to professionally, have (at least) $100M in the bank...my "other interests" would be something other than work for a while.