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What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

forbes.com

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Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#61

Post by PyErr_SetString »

mattwallaert wrote: post #46
loser777 wrote: post #13

The part about Microsoft being ubiquitous begs the question: is it actually good that Microsoft software is everywhere? The part that really gets me is schools. I can't see pushing Surface/Windows 8/Office/insert MS product here on students (especially young ones) being beneficial to anyone other than Microsoft. As a student who was expected to format essays according to Word and to use (Excel, Powerpoint, even FRONT…

Well, as the guy behind Bing for Schools, let me suggest an alternate world. Let's pretend Microsoft simply blinked out of existence. Can you name any software package as well integrated, as powerful, and as empowering for students as Office? You said that putting Office in the hands of students can't possibly be beneficial to anyone but Microsoft. But that's EXACTLY what I'm writing about. Let's pretend it was free…

I don't think anyone is arguing that if Microsoft blinked out of existence, no one would be inconvenienced. What a lot of people ARE saying is that "if not Microsoft, someone else."

If Microsoft never bought the software that eventually turned out to be Office, someone else would have provided a solution. If Microsoft hadn't bought (and resold) QDOS, someone else would have provided an operating system for IBM, and people who make chairs wouldn't have seen a big difference today.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#62

Post by noisy_boy »

After years of bugs/viruses/bloat and what not, Microsoft finally got the OS right with Windows 7. I personally know many people (including myself) who were/are quite impressed with it. Then it goes ahead and inflicts Windows 8 on the users.

Just when you got something right, after over a decade, and had a chance to build goodwill/positive response from your users, you go ahead and royally screw it up. I won't even go in their predatory/arm-twisting business practices.

The worst thing about Microsoft is that they never seem to learn from their mistakes or, more importantly, care.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#63

Post by Mustafabei »

The question was "What is the most innovative company?" Innovation is different than market penetration. And this article seems to aim to fend off a self conscious thought. Nobody thinks that people who work for MS are jerks. That is the author's own thoughts about himself. People just don't respect MS because of the lack of efficiency. Nobody argues about penetration, I am wrting this comment on a computer that runs MS. That does not take away my right to criticze the product.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#64

Post by bryan_rasmussen »

mattwallaert wrote: post #50
RyanZAG wrote: post #16

The author seems to revolve his article around MS software running manufacturing, ambulances, etc. This is only true in the most literal sense possible. The software that runs these industries just happens to be written upon an MS platform due to a number of unfortunate market incidences that forced other OS players out of the game for less than technical reasons. This trend is now rapidly reversing and new software…

First, nobody at Microsoft posted an article. I answered a question on Quora, before the Yale incident even occurred. Quora reached out and asked if they could publish on Forbes, which I said was fine. I updated to add the Yale example, which has already been discussed on HN, so I don't rehash, but please note nobody has ever suggested Yale lied. I've suggested they did not great science, which is very much not the s…

Ok, while I might agree that surely Microsoft has been beneficial to someone over the years other than Microsoft, and while I might also say that I preferred various versions of Windows to Mac or forms of Linux up until some years ago and I have quite a bit of experience with Microsoft technologies that I don't regret that much, when you say something like this 'Nobody is going "damn, that cotton gin forced out all those sickle makers, they really hurt society".' it is pretty ludicrous because HEY! people think the cotton gin hurt society for a whole other reason than it drove out the sickle makers!!

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#66

Post by kaze »

mattwallaert wrote: post #44
devilsenigma wrote: post #12

>> It is working at a company that people don’t believe in, despite the immense importance it plays in their daily life. Very true, Microsoft's business level software does not have as much visibility IMHO. People underestimate the role their software plays. >> Imagine you got out of that chair for a second. Walked across the street to get a cup of coffee. Got hit by a bus. The ambulance that picks you up? Microsoft.…

You are absolutely right that the janitor has a role, as does the barista, and I afford both of those people immense amounts of respect in my daily life. I don't look at the things they do and say "simply because you are a barista, I am going to dislike this." And yet there are many people, especially in tech, who are willing to take pot shots at something just because it was produced by Microsoft. My answer was an a…

I know that Microsoft Engineers have pulled off a large number of complex technical feats over the decades, and this is admirable.

Unfortunately, all this doesn’t translate into a smooth day-to-day experience for the end user, which is why all the hate builds up. People contrast this with the relatively smooth and fluid experience on say, Apple products. They then conclude Microsoft is garbage. I understand that in some (note, some) cases, MS isn’t even directly responsible for the issues. For example, Enterprise IT departments tend to cram massive amounts of software into boxes with moderate specs, leading to a slowdown in performance.

I can’t think of any practical solution for all this. Some radical re-engineering without regard for backwards compatibility, accompanied by strict specifications for minimum hardware requirements maybe? Will take too much of Management willpower to fly. So I’m sorry to say, Microsoft and its employees will continue to be ridiculed for some more time to come.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#67

Post by jongalloway2 »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #24

That’s right. The worst part of working at Microsoft has nothing to do with our internal culture (that’s not quite true; more on that in a bit). It isn’t stack ranking or ship cycles or trying to get things done. It is working at a company that people don’t believe in, despite the immense importance it plays in their daily life. Uh, no. It's the politics, and the stack ranking, and the interminably long ship cycles,…

Really depends on the group you're working in.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#68

Post by jongalloway2 »

mcot2 wrote: post #18

Stack ranking sounds a lot worse than other people doubting you.

I think Matt's discussion was spot on - it only bothers you if you pay attention to it. Microsoft offers an opportunity to positively impact a lot of people, both developers and end users. It takes pretty good care (benefits and pay) of its employees, too. If that's enough to motivate you, you only need to worry about stack ranking if you're worried about ending up low on the stack. If you're doing good work, that's extremely unlikely.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#69

Post by jongalloway2 »

tracker1 wrote: post #58
mattwallaert wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, as the guy behind Bing for Schools, let me suggest an alternate world. Let's pretend Microsoft simply blinked out of existence. Can you name any software package as well integrated, as powerful, and as empowering for students as Office? You said that putting Office in the hands of students can't possibly be beneficial to anyone but Microsoft. But that's EXACTLY what I'm writing about. Let's pretend it was free…

Most of the world, and even the people in the US aren't using desktop computers daily... using any tool that ties them mostly to a desktop platform, or an also-ran mobile platform is not doing them any favors. IMHO, if the Office division were actually able to run as a separated business unit from the whims of Windows, they would be MUCH better off. I think that as office suites go, MS Office is absolutely the best o…

Go to skydrive.live.com, create an Office document, edit it. Note that the experience is significantly better than any other online office suite. Do the moonwalk.

Re: What is the worst thing about working at Microsoft?

#70

Post by jongalloway2 »

jaseemabid wrote: post #41

Read the 100s of comments here, nothing positive! The hacker community hates microsoft, which is the biggest reason why you should not work for them.

The Hacker News community takes a break from creating the current wave of internet fart-apps-as-as-service-with-photo-sharing to voice its displeasure.
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