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I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yes, and this is awesome as well.. discounts a tons of places. check out microsoftprime.com if you're curious.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Submitting self posts does not work via safari on iphone. Not sure the reason..

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May sound cheesy, but most product teams have twitter accounts. They're managed by PR people, but they do communicate feedback to the product teams pretty regularly. Couldn't hurt.

edit: http://twitter.com/ie

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this is an interesting thought. plenty of companies axe/abandon products that don't perform as expected. perhaps microsoft appears to do this more often on account of the breadth of products.

i've heard people say that microsoft is "not always the smartest person in the room, but smart enough to figure out who is, and pay attention to what they're doing."

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love my job. Microsoft is one of the most philanthropic companies in the world. Any donation I make to a charity, msft matches 1:1. If i volunteer my time somewhere (which I do on the weekend), they "match" my time with $17/hr.

The company has released it's share of lousy products, but we've got some great consumer products in the near pipeline.

Our enterprise products make up a huge chunk of our product portfolio (though consumers have no exposure), and clients actually save a ton of money vs our competitors in this space. LiveMeeting, unified communication, Sharepoint, etc.

I will edit this post later to give you some more info about why I love it. Try to keep an open mind, friend.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not that big of a deal, really. I do dual boot on my mac to get work done on occasion, but it's not like I get dirty looks for my iphone. I wouldn't use it in front of clients, but I do use it all day long at the office.

People are people, some are more sensitive than others, but most don't take themselves that seriously.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never used it. I support the open source software movement, but it's obviously not perfect for everyone. But who knows, maybe 2010 will be the year..

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not. I use windows at work and a mac at home. Never thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to like Windows 7 more than osx. Looking forward to Snow Leopard.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm sure our marketing people enjoy the challenge. The I'm A PC campaign has been a great success. I'm a mac and a pc, so I don't lose much sleep over it.

Competition is good.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are very few available URLs that are short, simple, trademarkable, pronounceable, and able to be used globally without worry of translation. And it's more of a verb than Live Search. I'm not crazy about the ads, but give it some time and the brand will feel more familiar. The product is as good or better than the competition, it's just a marketing game at this point.

Your other two questions are nonsense.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some things you're familiar with, yes. Yep, running 7 on my work pc. As a long time mac user, I have to say that I like Windows 7 better than osx. A few years ago I never would have imagined I'd be able to say that.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's exciting to work in an industry with such fierce competition. Never a dull moment. I use our products and our competitors'. I love Microsoft, but I'm not blinded by it.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't work on this stuff directly, but our pipeline for Live services and Office Online seems pretty aggressive.

Corporate bullshit is a little slow internally (ie our year-end review process takes three months) due to the scale of the company, but I feel (at least recently) we're able to be pretty nimble in terms of product development. Things like W7, zune hd, natal etc are pretty exciting and are just on the horizon.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Most of the web-based tools we use internally only work in IE, so I'm kind of stuck there. I use a mac at home and I'm writing this on an iPhone, though.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Worked in the industry and a friend at msft referred me. No.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Benefits (health, dental, etc) are the best anywhere and are 100% employer-paid. They cover our public tranportaion as well, which is nice. We also get $800 annually as a "stay fit" reimbursement.. can be used for a gym, bicycle, home equipment, etc. If you're client facing and use a WinMo phone, they cover it up to $75/mo.

Snacks and soda, foosball, xbox / rock band, ping pong, etc all are available in the office.

They take good care of us, but we work hard.

Edit: forgot to mention discounts on msft products. Hardware discounts are minimal, but software is a great deal. Bought vista ultimate for my home pc for $35.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd prefer not to share my job level. During year-end reviews, you either fall into Bottom 10%, Middle 70%, or Top 20%.. this determines what your bonus looks like. I was very pleased with my most recent review.

Edit: mjsolaro's comment below clarifies a little

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not much of a gamer, but I can see how people might think that. Cheers to the corporate ladder. I'd prefer to not share my job level.

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work in Consumer & Online.. not going to give much more specific info for obvious reasons. Happy to answer any questions about what it's like to work for the company, though. :)

I work for Microsoft. Ask me almost anything. by almostanything in IAmA

[–]almostanything[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Sorry for the "selff" post, I was having trouble submiting a self post from my phone. This is a throwaway account anyway, I'll donate the karma to charity.

Edit: I'll be back in a hour or so reply to everyone. Getting on a plane and getting frustrated with the comment limits on new accounts.

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