Pros: There are so many talents. People learn from each other every day. It's the best place to learn Microsoft technologies and stacks like .NET and C#.

Cons: Too much political things make work effectiveness really down. Cannot focus on work unless you have a good manager. Too many re-orgs.

Pros: The compensation is good, bordering on great. The top performers in a group have the chance to make a large bonus (bordering on $20k) and also get a large stock bonus (an additional $20-40k, albeit vested over 5 years). The biggest drive for me is working on a product that millions of people are using around the world, and building technology from the ground up that many developers will leverage. Read: Visibility. Benefits are second to none. Microsoft honestly has the best health insurance of any company I've ever seen, as it's: * Free * Covers 100% of everything. Beyond that, there are a lot of great, smart people you have the opportunity to work with.

Cons: I've had the chance to work with two different groups at Microsoft, and comparing the two is like comparing two different companies. One was like working at IBM; the other was like working for a web startup. Before picking a position at Microsoft, make sure you get to meet the team, as not doing your homework can show you the bad side of a company that is struggling to find itself again. In that vein, a lot of people internally are dissatisfied with the direction the company is going compared to other companies such as Apple and Google.

Pros: The company is very forward-looking with the new leadership (Satya). The culture is rapidly evolving to be caught up with, or ahead of, the competition. It has a wide reach, with lots of opportunities to make an impact on the world. Time-off is very flexible. Work-life balance is well managed on most teams.

Cons: Lots of legacy/historical processes are slowing down the company, making work frustrating at times. Currently, there is a lot of churn to reach the "ideal state" as quickly as possible (as mentioned in the pros). Company culture is still not very in-tune with the rest of the market and how competitors do their business at a tactical level, but this is improving in the last year.