Pros: Pretty good benefits. The StayFit benefit was nice, where you could get a gym membership, a reimbursement plan, or a flat stipend. Healthcare wasn't bad either. Stable job environment. Retention is fairly high, and there are many seasoned coworkers. Company is stable, with many product areas to try. An obvious one, but the status that comes from working for an iconic company.

Cons: Not as much room for promotion or growth (at least on the team I was on). People were very competitive, but the vibe was that management expected people to work with both ends of the candle burning as the norm. While there are many product areas, my impression is that exploring other teams and trying to transfer to another is strongly discouraged. Transferring to a different division is even more of a challenge. Not much support by management to explore areas of interest in terms of new tools or technologies. This might have been a culture trait of my team. Lots of redundant menial work that should be automated, but no bandwidth given to work on tools for these. Also, a lot of the existing tools were slow or error-prone and needed to be improved or redone, but again, no bandwidth given for these. Not great at onboarding new employees on my team (I am not referring to the general NEO done by HR). Lack of training materials and outreach to integrate new FTEs.

Pros: You get plenty of benefits, like free devices, betas, and other cool things. It's a technology lover's dream. Great health benefits as well.

Cons: Ideas can sometimes get lost in the mix. Microsoft is still way behind the competition, both in development practices and in shipping products. Growth is also really slow unless you're willing to sacrifice your work-life balance.

Pros: Honestly, the main pros for working at Microsoft have to do with the work-life balance and the benefits. There's a good amount of drinking and joking on the job, which can actually be viewed as a good or a bad thing depending on who you ask (mostly good when done responsibly, in my opinion). The people are generally pretty smart and fun to be around, though there are way too many who have become or just are complacent and lack the motivation to be better at their jobs.

Cons: Management is atrocious. Like others have pointed out, there are way too many managers who don't actually even understand or possess the skills to do their jobs and effectively manage a team. The culture is egotistical in the sense that it promotes an "I" sort of mentality. There is very little in terms of collaboration and promoting team success. The infrastructure is archaic and all over the place. Also, there is very little emphasis placed on employee growth and development.