Pros: Excellent cafeterias! Geniuses abound, or so the spin doctors say.

Cons: Rank and yank destroys the culture. This is a class-based culture, folks. Never forget it. As a contractor, I was untouchable. This seems to have been adopted due to Gates' love of all things subcontinental. But unlike our friends over the waves, they don't expel their untermensch every year.

Pros: New and challenging work. Technology keeps changing as products get released and new work comes in. Working on the future most of the time. Excellent environment to work in. Flexible timings and nobody minds what you do with your time as long as you get things done. Leads and Managers are highly capable and have intimate knowledge of the work their team is doing. Test teams do a good job in ensuring the quality of the product. The amount of code written is huge and most of the times surpasses the amount of development code in the product. PM, SDE, and SDET work in harmony and respect each other's roles and work done, and I have never seen finger-pointing any time during my stay here. I have my own office and brilliant machines to work with along with a very friendly group of people around me. What more do I want?

Cons: There is no real downside to this company. A few issues that I have heard are that some groups are very big, and promotions and bonuses are not as per expectations. A few groups, like Windows and Office, have a lot of money, while the latest upcoming groups might not have as much capital before the release of their products. Another issue that has cropped up lately is the quality of people being hired at Microsoft. It used to be that the very best got in, but I have seen a few people who have gotten a job when they are not suited to work for Microsoft. The main reason might be the hiring spree that Microsoft had a few months back.

Pros: Flexible worktime and constant support for working on your own ideas.

Cons: High workload on some projects.