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What it's like to work for Microsoft

qbrundage.com — A programmer at Microsoft tells us what it's like working for the software giant. An interesting read.

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EmSixTeen, on 10/12/2007, -7/+25That's a nice wee insightful read.
- drinkingbuddy, on 10/12/2007, -100/+13My god this guy is an idiot.
  
  Totally brainwashed. He actually thinks the stuff he works on at Microsoft is great. Does he not realize that Microsoft is totally using the best years of his life to squeeze crappy applications out of him? For maybe $150,000k/year at the most? I want him to wake up and realize he is getting the short end of the stick. Sure, I admit $150k is a very good salary. But what about fulfillment in life. When this guy gets home every night, he should be thinking "wow, what I did today doesn't matter for *****." I mean is this guy really proud of programming some lame gaming system that 13yr olds use? Who cares? Do something real that matters.
  
  By the way: these "great" applications that he builds that millions of people use -- guess what -- I take using them for granted. Microsoft wants to make money, so they produce applications, with or without this guy.
  
  What a dumbass
- kaje, on 10/12/2007, -10/+10"What's it like being a programmer at Microsoft? Well, first before we get started, we get really trashed in the break room. I mean shi..."
- stanleyfeinbaum, on 10/12/2007, -18/+48idiot? Better than being a sandle wearing linux hippie who has no knowledge of UI design and makes most of his money from selling pot
- colinmhayes, on 10/12/2007, -45/+8yea, the poor ***** actually likes his job...
- phpirate, on 10/12/2007, -48/+9A fridge full of food and the ability to do whatever you want when you're a microsoft employee is all it takes for them to make some of the most buggy, stealing anti-user software the rest of the world has to deal with.
  
  Way to go.
- bloo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"idiot? Better than being a sandle wearing linux hippie who has no knowledge of UI design and makes most of his money from selling pot"
  
  Yeah! Wait. You holdin'?
- shmatt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2and they accuse Mac users of being fanboys!
  NEVER saw haters on apple related posts modded down like this!
- kodek, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1What's it like to work for Microsoft:
  Service Temporarily Unavailable :)
mpolynice, on 10/12/2007, -29/+5Sounds like a commercial. It sounds like it is good place to work
- Crustibooga, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23I for one applaud Mr Gates for all his charitable work/donations and by the sound of it, the encouragement to all employees to do the same... This is NOT evil! By the way, just to clarify, I'm a total Mac head, I dislike MS products (so far), But I am open minded. I think the perception that MS and Billy boy are evil is due to them insistent on competing (well trying to change/copy/challenge perfectly good software using there own proprietary methods...). Well wake-up! people are the ones buying all this, it's their choice and as much as I like the idea/image of Bill & Steve being Borg leaders controlling all these lemming consumers, they do not. People are lemmings! But it is their free will that makes the purchasing decisions, no matter how bad. I do not like Microsoft, I have no need for their products other than for testing websites. I do need them though, MS are needed because without them the world of tech would be boring. After all, who else fires up so much hate? If you dislike/hate/despise MS, it's simple... Don't buy, then you have no worries. Failing that enjoy this article and enjoy their products! ;o)
- Izzie, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5for sure, this is not evil, this is PR. oh wait isn't PR just some kind of spin to make people forget about evil doing or something like that ?
  oh yeah now I remember:
  - good is being good all the time
  - evil is the range between being good all the time except once and being evil all the time.
  
  better is an enemy of good as in "going too far is the same as not reaching the goal"
  
  don't forget that MS started a big PR campaign to change its public image not so long ago, keep in mind that MS is not a newcomer to marketing, viral marketing and PR. remember that what an iPod would look like if it was made by MS ? do you really think this is not part of their PR campaign to change their image to look more friendly ?
- newevilmind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I wonder what the difference between
  "Microsoft gives software developers a lot of personal freedom over both the work and the work environment."
  and
  "you've got all the ingredients for poor work/life balance"
  is.
  It seems like if they basically get to make their own work schedule they should have plenty of time for friends and family.
faulkner, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17"Companies (countries, races, etc.) are not "evil" or "good", and they do not have "intentions." "
o rly?
i'll buy the parens, but companies, at least in capitalist societies, seem to intend to earn money.
- philovivero, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5Quote: "Companies (countries, races, etc.) are not "evil" or "good", and they do not have "intentions." " ...companies, at least in capitalist societies, seem to intend to earn money.
  
  I disagree wholeheartedly. It's easy to determine the intentions of companies, countries, and any organised group of people. (Races don't generally align so well as companies and countries).
  
  Furthermore, it's fairly easy to determine if those intentions follow the moral compasses of individuals. Union Carbide is clearly an evil company that does evil and has evil intentions. Monsanto, Scientology, et al the same.
  
  The Free Software Foundation, on the other hand, is clearly a good organisation that has good intentions and the skill and collective intelligence to follow through with the good intentions to actually do good in the world (let's face it, good intentions can be damaging in the hands of the incompetent).
  
  These are just clear examples. Microsoft, Google, the Department of Justice, etc are perhaps a little more gray, but tend to, like people, fall somewhere on the spectrum. Google, IMO, falls closer to the "good" side, and Microsoft closer to the "evil" side, but whatever. My opinions on a given person would differ from yours similarly (given my values probably differ from yours).
  
  It is an interesting myth that companies and organisations have foisted on us, that they don't have intentions, and are these amoral entities. They have power over you. They have the power to kill, to destroy lives, to steal, to give, and to enrich. Don't be fooled into thinking they don't.
- DrMindHacker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Companies (countries, races, etc.) are not "evil" or "good", and they do not have "intentions." "
  o rly?
  i'll buy the parens, but companies, at least in capitalist societies, seem to intend to earn money.....
  
  what the heck is that supposed to mean? is there something wrong with *earning* money? how
  do you live? do you steal your money? that is the *essence* of business - making / earning
  money! do you work? don't you *intend* to earn money by working ?
- newevilmind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3He says that companies by definition cannot be evil.
  I beg to differ.
  About 3 years ago I worked for a company who spent all day trying to rip off their competitors.
  There was also a corporate culture of fear.
  We were supposed to make those under us afraid that they might lose their job at any moment, therefor supposedly increasing productivity because they thought they had to work harder to keep their job.
  It was all *****, and it was an evil company, in my opinion.
saggygrandma, on 10/12/2007, -49/+11Im tossing between Sell-out and kiss-ass
- Hanthus, on 10/12/2007, -6/+44Judging by your logo i'm tossing between envy and fanboyism.
- jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Honestly people are so biased, it would be great for anyone in any field to get the kind of freedoms the Microsofties enjoy. Look at my picture and you know I have no love for Windows, but Microsoft is more than just about an operating system. The trials of time have impacted Microsoft but overall it has fared far better than anyone could have imagined.
  
  Hey Bill, Steve or anyone over there on planet Redmond if you are reading this and want to hire me for $200,000 to program stuff in Xcode on the Mac don't be a stranger.
newfly, on 10/12/2007, -14/+18Not that each of 60000 employees is evil, but hey, each of those antitrust suits are real.
- blhack, on 10/12/2007, -7/+52and obviously if a company tries to be very very successful at something, they're evil.
  
  Why don't you complain about Boeing(airplanes), or Pioneer Seed(hybrid corn), or Apple Computers(ipod), or IBM(ppc)?
  Please just realize that as a geek, you have got a natural bias against microsoft. They are the bad guy. They are NOT evil, they are just successful.
- JoeWall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20i agree that MS is also guilty of being over-succesful. it is always good to stand against the big guy.
- kazsymonds, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15I love this because its unbiased, coming from a mac user and it shows how ignorant mac fanboys can be sometimes.
  
  Oh and didnt MS win an anti trust case?
  
  Somehow i think you would see it very differently if you were the worlds richest man and everyone was calling you evil just because you wanted to make money (even thought you quite literally SUPPORT several charities with your own cash).
  
  Somone change the track with the whole MS is evil part, without MS 95% of people wouldnt know how to use a computer i know that.
LR2_, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3If you check the copywrite page, the guy states that the site is copywrited from 1990-2005. Old website, or does this guy just have some old programs or articles posted?
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2copywrite? Surely you mean copyright......
- zumpiez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2He might be talking about the rapper.
LR2_, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Hey kool, this guy is on the team that is working on backwards compatibility for the Xbox 360. His xbox360 page talks about how hard it is to actually make the 360 backwards compatible.

His Xbox360 page: http://www.qbrundage.com/michaelb/pubs/essays/xbox360.html
FormulaOne, on 10/12/2007, -15/+3
This article is rather old. I recall reading it when the topic of Xbox 360 backwards compatibility was first discussed.
- cyrix, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10No. It works in Firefox as well. And I just tried it in Opera too, works fine.
- cyrix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I know my previous comment might seem off topic, but the parent had posted that it wasn't working for him and asked if he needed IE. I assume he edited his comment since then.
wynno, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11I truly love folks whose vocabulary frequently contains "capitalist" or "antitrust" (or similar derivatives)...damn right funny in fact. It must be nice to have no need for a home, food, transportation, showers, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. But I digress.

As mad as I've gotten as MS software over the years (mostly because of buggy products), I still maintain that we should be proud of this treasure, because it is among a dwindling group of great American companies. Were I qualified and able, I'd sure for them.

Oh, I just noticed---"sell out". That's another great phrase, meaning, "...decided to be somebody & make some bucks instead of being a satisfied loser like me."
DEFSMAC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6if you want an interesting insight on what it's like to work at microsoft read the minimsft blog.
http://minimsft.blogspot.com/
lot more up to date and interesting than this article.
digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -18/+3if i worked at microsoft, id develop a linux based windows (kinda like osx ) but still running the windows apps, i think that would be great
- Barlo_Mung, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8You don't need to work at MS to do that. Linux is an open OS so get to work.
- DigitalDud, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10You won't be touching Linux at MS. Even looking at GPL'd code is strictly forbidden over fears you may accidently put elements of it in Windows and cause a legal nightmare.
- alienfluid, on 10/12/2007, -12/+10first of all, OS X is not linux based.
  
  second of all, can you specifically tell me why the NT kernel sucks as compared to the linux kernel? no, you can't? i guess you are just talking out of your ass.
- whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16"Even looking at GPL'd code is strictly forbidden over fears you may accidently put elements of it in Windows and cause a legal nightmare."
  
  I don't know where you've heard that, but it's simply untrue,
- alienfluid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3go read your employee handbook.
- Xiol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14"I don't know where you've heard that, but it's simply untrue,"
  
  It really isn't. I've heard the same thing as well. You're "allowed" to use Linux at Microsoft, but you're in no way allowed to look at any form of GPL code, in anything from apps to the kernel.
  
  MS just can't risk any GPL code being copied into their software, than having MS and the GPL taken to court - which could force MS to open up the code.
  
  Even without being able to cite sources (just woke up, too lazy to Google), you must realise it makes sense.
mightymouse, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5DIGGGGGGGED.

Coral cache:
http://www.qbrundage.com.nyud.net:8080/michaelb/pubs/essays/working_at_microsoft.html
nocode, on 10/12/2007, -23/+5you would think a programmer at microsoft would have a better design on his website...
- JoeWall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18a programmer is not a designer. different skills required
- alienfluid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21what does web design have to do with programming? why is a better design needed when you can do the job with static html? you must be one of the newbies who considers himself an "html programmer".
- Mudcrutch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15um hes a programmer... whats that got to do with design?
- HackWithRamzi, on 10/12/2007, -16/+3What part of "works at Microsoft" don't you understand? And you expect him to have good design? Not even the designers do!
- majorbabu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8i actually like his simplistic approach. not the prettiest, but a nice deviation from other blogs out there; although his really isn't one according to him, and i have to agree with him on that.
  
  http://www.qbrundage.com/michaelb/pubs/essays/this_is_not_a_blog.html
  he explains key shortcomings in the way blogs are set up. trueness.
- lilrabbit129, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10programmer != web page designer
  
  People forget that there are web designers and web programmers. designers create what you're going to see, programmers make it happen.
- youareretarded, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Quote: "you would think a programmer at microsoft would have a better design on his website..."
  
  You would think but then again he's using a power book and was originally an apple/unix programmer.
  
  So what's your point?
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1His design is really nice and simple, I like it a lot. Makes the page easy to navigate and read. Maybe you should learn some more about design before you go accusing people of bad design.
- nocode, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i realize there's a difference, but from my experience with people that i've worked with, they understand web design and development. i didn't say the site looked ugly or that it sucked, i was just expecting something "better"
drinkingbuddy, on 10/12/2007, -50/+7My god this guy is an idiot.

Totally brainwashed. He actually thinks the stuff he works on at Microsoft is great. Does he not realize that Microsoft is totally using the best years of his life to squeeze crappy applications out of him? For maybe $150,000k/year at the most? I want him to wake up and realize he is getting the short end of the stick. Sure, I admit $150k is a very good salary. But what about fulfillment in life. When this guy gets home every night, he should be thinking "wow, what I did today doesn't matter for *****." I mean is this guy really proud of programming some lame gaming system that 13yr olds use? Who cares? Do something real that matters.

By the way: these "great" applications that he builds that millions of people use -- guess what -- I take using them for granted. Microsoft wants to make money, so they produce applications, with or without this guy.

Dumbass.
- alienfluid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24I think you are an idiot.
  
  What spectacular applications have you personally worked on? What applications have you produced that have been shipped to millions of people? Do you even keep up with the market for gaming systems - do you realize that it's soon going to be bigger than the movie market? Perhaps then you'll care.
  
  By the way, the world will go on without you as well - that's a moot point.
- timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12lots of MS software is very good. MS SQL, visual studio, .net to name some.
  the problem is windows and with their constantly positioning their monopoly to wipe everyone out.
  the other problem is also bill gates ego, and his fundamental malfunction when it comes to OSS.
  
  ms is a great place to work, i know 2 people who did interns there and they both said the same thing. RTFA it's a comment on what it's like to work there not MS's business tactics (which stink)
- JoeWall, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4...Do something real that matters....
  from your name, does that mean drinking ?
- kaje, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Why did you post this comment twice? Are you trying to look like an idiot x2?
- Settra, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6"I think you are an idiot.
  
  What spectacular applications have you personally worked on? What applications have you produced that have been shipped to millions of people? Do you even keep up with the market for gaming systems - do you realize that it's soon going to be bigger than the movie market? Perhaps then you'll care.
  
  By the way, the world will go on without you as well - that's a moot point."
  
  Ditto.
  
  'twas a good read. digg.
- Ace25, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Agreed (original poster is a dumbass). I would love to work for a large company that has the stability and offers above average salaries. Where I live (in California) you would be extremely lucky to find a job similar to his and make $65k. If MS offered me $150k I would be there tomorrow. I know his salary is speculation but more than likely pretty close. I have worked for so many tech startups and even well established companies (a couple with over 80 years in business) and all except Dell have all gone out of business. Even when I worked for Dell 95-98 I saw the writing on the wall at the end and quickly got a govt job for the stability. Not a month after I left Dell layed off over 5000 people (This was when the bubble was bursting).
  
  As far as the article, yes, its old, as so many are on this site. I wish people could get over that fact instead of having 50 posts that all say "old!". Does anyone else remember the "other" site/blog from a MS employee that wasn't quite so positive? He was fired within days of him posting his experience. Or the person that took the pictures of all the Apple G5s on MS receiving docks for the Xbox Dev kits? Fired as well. Seems the moral of the story is, if you work for MS and post something online about working there, you better be possitive or else have an offer letter from another company.
mtdna, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8For a more amusing (fictional) account, check out Douglas Coupland's "Microserfs" - it's hilarious.

Amazon link is here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060987049/sr=8-1/qid=1145423398/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1656081-3476636?%5Fencoding=UTF8
DigitalDud, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Man I saw this page literally YEARS ago. I can't overstate how old this is. The corporate culture at MS has likely totally changed since this guy wrote this.
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8cause the xbox360 has been around for YEARS and the backwards compatibility was announced YEARS ago
kalphegor, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2there is not only Microsoft on this Planet called Earth
- MrTsLoveChild, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0was this an attempt at haiku? beautiful
wolfzero, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7He's SO right about the free sodas. Although I wish there was free bottled water so I didn't rot my damn teeth out. I'm always thirsty, and I don't really like anything but the soda they have. I work for Microsoft Game Studios, which is off-campus in Redmond. Our parking lot isn't full of brand new luxury cars, although there are some. Most of them are what I've come to expect at a community college. Lots of beaters and souped up sedans, a few sports cars but no rows of brand new 745s.
ravis31, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1digg effect..
server down already
kalleanka, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I work for Microsoft as well, and one detail is incorrect.

"(for) new employees, vacation time has been cut from three weeks to two"

This is incorrect, I still got my 3 weeks of vacation, and I started working here last month.
- tlogank, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4doing what if I might ask?
- kalleanka, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4As a programmer.
  But all SDE, SDET and PM starts with 3 weeks vacation.
  4 weeks after 6 years, and 5 weeks after 12 years.
DigitalDud, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I spent a summer interning there and it was pretty awesome. They say that Microsoft is the best company to intern at and I can say that's probably true. For a college CS student it's basically a dream come true. It's not like working at a company at all. It's like going to college, except there's no classes and you get paid, a lot. And with the 900+ interns down there from all different schools it gets to be a lot of fun. You'll probably learn more in a 3 month MS internship than a couple years taking CS courses. Plus you get to work on cool features that actually make it into the products, unlike most companies that make the interns do all the dirty work.

If you're in CS go for it.
- ejdmoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sweet. I'll be out there this summer, and I can't wait.
- drinkingbuddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1do you really want to whore yourself to microsoft? working there sucks. ***** it. do something real you dumbass
darwin22, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3by the picture at the top, he's been sucking down more than his share of the free soda ;)

(granted, my company has a fridge full of soda as well, the difference is, about 1/4 of it is Vault :D
Linkage155, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Very interesting article, don't care if it's MS or not (truthfully don't have anything against them as some of you here do), very detailed point of view from an employee who works at a large company.. That's all,
Dugg>
skyshark88, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Wow, really cool read ............ Digg

I am really happy that this guy and many others who work and intern at Microsoft's campus enjoy and love there jobs. It's just to bad that Microsoft's premier operating system XP really just sucks.......... Microsoft has broken more laws than your average Ax murderer... Destroyed more companies than one can count.... Taken your and my freedom to view and listen to our legally purchased media in the manor we see fit, and making alot of us criminals in our own homes in the mean time ....

So I really would like to digg this story...... a big hole and toss a ton of horse ***** on top of it!!!!!
kden, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4After reading that, I want to know what it's like to work for Apple or Google.
- sigbald, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1look here : http://www.digg.com/technology/TIME:_Life_in_the_Googleplex_Photo_Essay
ajb2015, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Geek comment of the day:

"I love source code. I love reading it, writing it, thinking about it."
- TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2So true on his account and yours. Once you start learning Languages you have this great tendency to figure out how it all works, That quote also stuck out in my mind.
Backlash, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3"For the most part, I determine what I work on and when I will get it done."

Maybe this is why Vista has been pushed back and pushed back :|

"Microsoft gives software developers a lot of personal freedom over both the work and the work environment. I order my own supplies, customize my office as I see fit, schedule my own trips and meetings, and select my own training courses. I choose when I show up for work and when I leave, and what to wear while I'm there. I can eat on campus or off, reheat something from home in the kitchen or scavenge leftovers from meetings. I can even work remotely from home (within reason)."
anagai, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Whats with setting your own hours and all that freedom. No wonder product releases are so slow. Whose to stop someone to telecommute while naked,surfing porn and smoking pot. Cult coding nerd managers with personalities doesn't help release dates either. Security patches takes weeks and os releases takes years. Often if there is a feature we miss or wish was there, where do we send the request? Therefore, they make software that they think we will like. They are the communists of the software industry. Usually the newer version looks prettier or has some minor gee whiz feature. Im waiting for a day when there is a viable alternative to get there asses in motion and churn out good stuff fast. I think the only best innovation theyve done over the years is there developer tools such as .net.

Microsoft is corporately evil in the sense there the only option out there and they force us to pay hundreds of dollars for software which i only use 10% of the features. And 20% of this 10%, only there software has.
- esac, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"Whose to stop someone to telecommute while naked,surfing porn and smoking pot."
  
  Nothing, and that's the beauty. Actually Microsoft Policy explicitly states that there will be no RDTs, and that as long as it doesn't affect your work (and you don't do it at work), then it is not an issue.
  
  As for setting your own hours, you can't just say " I want to work from 8am to Noon today" or "I prefer to work from midnight to 8am". Although I can come in at 7am or 11am, I generally have to be there within reason and to the respect of the rest of my team.
  
  Finally, if you have an issue with Microsoft being evil and you being 'forced to pay hundreds of dollars', then stop using it! I'm sorry but FOSS is finally good enough where you have no excuse.
- anagai, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2what the heck is foss? please spell out for the ignorant people what live in the normal world.
- blueigloo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Free Open Source Software
esac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I have worked for Microsoft since 2000, and after reading this guys post/opinion, he is 100% on the money with everything, ESPECIALLY the managers. I have had 4 different managers in 6 years (that is actually really good here), however there are 9 managers on a team of about 30 people .. that is just a little too many if you ask me.

The other thing that hits the nail on the head though is influence. I didn't realize this until I wrote a tool and got it published with one of the resource kits. It was then that I got email from people all over the world asking questions, thanking me for making their lives and jobs easier, etc.. that I realized that my tool simple as it was really changed how people interacted with the product.
- Jams, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What tool was it?
- drinkingbuddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1who cares. it was probably some retarded AUTOEXEC.BAT optimization *****. you are a dumbass, do something real.
sideral, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I wondered how it was to work for a company that is hated by so many people. I must say that I'm impressed to know that it is in overall good. I though it could be very frustrating to receive such worldwide criticism for every thing that its not done right. Personally, I think the guys at Microsoft do a good job.. to develop world wide software can't be easy.
sigbald, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2I like the contrast of the comments on Micro$oft stories and Google stories (since both made the front page here)
Hey guys It's not like Heaven and Hell ! Theses 2 are just company not religions. They both make software and they both are leader in their domains. The differences are simple :
M : software hard to learn, sluggish
G: intuitive software, simple but complete
M : Overpriced
G : mostly Free
M : compatibility issues
G : web-based = all platform
etc
So one can say Micro$oft's products aren't very good but their 'evilness' is just because they want to make profit, so do G¢¢gle :)
Hey G¢¢gle also make some sneaky transactions, untold decisions and everything like other big companies who has everything to loose but they do it in a way that make them superior in the public opinion. Bravo!
And I think we have much more to fear from a company that transfer our email, find our web page and host our schedule than a company who make what ? word processing software or obselete OS...
- alienfluid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1wow, what a load of ***** (okay, okay, there's some value in there).
  
  So Google is mostly free, huh? Perhaps you are not paying for their most popular service - search. But have you heard about Google Appliance, Google Analytics, Adsense etc.?
  
  Web based - what about Picasa, Google Earth, Google Desktop? They don't produce an OS - so they have no reason to limit their market to one. Microsoft on the other hand, needs (for good reason!) to support their own platform over others. It's called business.
  
  Welcome to the real world - every company out there (especially the publicly owned ones) are out there to make money. That's how it works.
- sigbald, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I understand, but the point here is to explain to the Google fanboy or the Microsoft hater how close the companies are despite their services or popularity...
  if you want to argue on want is free and want isn't your not talking about the same thing here. (and mostly mean not completely,and i'm sure there is more people using the search engine than Picasa)
  
  Just imagine how Microsoft Calendar would be commented... "I don't want M$ to read my schedule"
  Now Google Calendar... "Wow is this the first GCal screenshot ? ... i'm so looking foward to it!"
  Basically the idea is the same.
  What make a company Kind or Evil ? the code to underline some text ? the save format ? or the idea behind a software ?
anamanaman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It really depends on the group and division at MS. I've spent some time contracting in several groups and aside from a few similarities (food, drinks, campus), they might as well be different companies.
skyshark88, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Can any one person in this tread please tell me of any product manufactured that costs 300 bucks American that doesn't come with some kind of warranty?????????????

I mean hell, I use Linux and after setup adding packages and multimedia support there is not much left to do.. I mean on windows damn the time one spends on anti-virus alone, it really kills the hours and the malware come on. Any other product that shipped like this would have law suits all over it. Has anyone ever heard of one....
- elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31. Windows DOES have lawsuits all over it
  2. I don't have a single anti-virus utility, nor do I have a firewall other than the one that comes with Windows.
  3. Warranty? For software? I guess the only real thing you could need would be: If you lose the cd or the cd-key, they will replace it for you. It's basically a free warranty. As for if it gets infected with a virus or whatnot, then you just reinstall. There's no need for a warranty.
  4. I've only had one infection of malware ever, and that was because my dad was using my computer. You will only get any malware if you don't know how to use a computer.
  5. My computer ( XP sp2 ) has NEVER crashed in the three years I've been using it. Any crashes have been due to hardware problems.
  6. The few times I've used Linux, Linux crashed on installation or outright destroyed my partition.
  7. Take your Microsoft flames somewhere else.
- dipswitch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+48. Take your Linux flames and MS arrogancy somewhere dark and narrow.
pejrm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I enjoyed this article. I am not a big Microsoft fan and will look for alternatives where I can but I respect his article and for being honest about his feelings and perceptions.
zjuzjb, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1hahha
iSlayer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I enjoyed reading this and the very last heading about Microsoft not being an evil company is correct. These apple users that always make Microsoft look like satan are really bigots. I was very happy when he said that. Of course if he gets fired like one ex employee for the PS3 project did I would have to think MS are satan. haha
RandallBe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Its OK if you like to be working under the monkeys. The Monkeys have seniority. they've been programming windows for years.
charlesfrith, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0This guy is looking for his next job and wants to present himself as he is. A an affable person who lacks charisma and loves nothing better than writing source code. Good luck to him and his resume which is available on the link.
- Leo55, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"The reality is that Microsoft is made up of mostly honest, earnest, hardworking people. People with families. People with hardships. People with ordinary and extraordinary lives. People who make wise and foolish decisions. Some employees are bad apples, and some leaders make poor decisions (which their employees may or may not support)."
  
  It is not the programmers that give Microsoft a bad name...
  It is hhe Bill guy... and the upper heads who want more $...
- DigitalDud, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yeah that Bill guy is a real ***** for planning to give his entire fortune to charities before he dies.
- ermau, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'd say its actually that Steve guy.
mprog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Plus, as an added benefit, every friday night we get to watch Ballmer dance to the Miami Sound Machine... .TOTALLY AWESOME!!!
adam.skinner, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Great article
dmclone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Great article. MS doesn't get enough credit for what it has done. Everyone wants to hate the companies at the top. If Apple was at the top you would be hearing the same things. It's funny that a few years ago everyone was a big fan-boy of google. Now that they're #1 in their field everyone says they suck even though they are putting out some great products.

Another example is the Ipod. Now that everyone in the free world has bought one you have people that will always critize. Of course other products are going to come along that are better but the Ipod set the bar.
cappslite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5He must have created his site with FrontPage.
elzorro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1smells like microsoft pr dept propaganda if you ask me...
strangeduck, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3remember that Simpson's episode where Homer goes to work for the Evil Genius? Great work environmnet, fantastic perks, just a leader bent on world domination...

good read though...
amdma2003, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Really inspirational article...didn't know what it was like at Microsoft before reading this. Always thought it was bad environment because everyone hated their company.
bluehouse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"A lot of people who ought to know better are convinced Microsoft is evil. Apologies if you're one of them — because these people are idiots."
cebbs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes, I agree. Everyone doesn't hate Microsoft. I have Fedora Core Linux and XP Media Center on my Desktop, and I have to say that I have a much more enjoyable user experience with XP. The only reason I have Fedora is to use things like gcc and sever terminal apps. I try to ssh into linux server from Windows whenever possible.
timshead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Uhhh, why is this a story on Digg? If you want to know what it's like to work at Microsoft read Mini-Microsoft or any one of the countless blogs authored by M$ employees. Also, why is this now a forum to discuss M$ products and not the story?
Dr.TheFunk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1When will Microcrap learn when enough is enough. They have "earned" something like 55 billion correct? How about they just say "oh great, now we can offer our product at an actually fair price". Charging over $300 for Winblows XP (extra crap) should be considered theft. This is why they are evil. Oh, and also that they steal 80% of their ideas from other companies.
brainded, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I had a feeling this was going to start a flame war.

Look, MS may be the Big Bad Software giant, but have you ever thought maybe you hate them because they have successfully taken the market and you don't work for them. Therefore you are losing out. Im sure if you took the time to meet the people who work for MS and take a tour of the corporate culture they have, you would see its not all evil and dark with nerds who havnt seen the light of day scheming to take over the world.

They are competant people that ask nothing of you. Do they force you to use it? Is there a gun to your head? No. If you want to blame anyone, blame the rest of the world for making it so popular.

I understand the need to flame a company who has done wrong, like pricerightphoto or enron, but what has microsoft done to make anyone hate them?
- clickmyface, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well you might be on to something there, but i'm not sure you can tell Mac users they are "losing out."
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What it's like to work for Microsoft

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