6 ms·

I was going to rag on this article for touting the the same non-specific garbage we've seen the past couple days like, "more mac users switching to surface than

I was going to rag on this article for touting the the same non-specific garbage we've seen the past couple days like, "more mac users switching to surface than ever!" without any hard numbers, did is go from 20 to 25? But this article is actually pretty interesting. It focuses on how Satya Nadella has respected the leaders of Companies he's bought out and invited them to key meetings. Using their insight not only for product and company direction, but importantly creating culture as well. Very key to Microsoft and any tech company's success. I recall hearing many stories about how Microsoft had like 3 managers per programmer, probably exaggeration, but the point remains, who would want to work there if you skilled/lucky enough to choose? Looks like they may be changing in some good ways.

UK-AL 10y ago
Microsoft used to have a really good reputation for developers. Used to one of the few companies where each developer had their own office.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- manyxcxi 10y ago
  Like all big companies your experience depends more on your group than the company as a whole. I've got a number of friends at MSFT in various tech roles, some have their own office as a developer, some are in a cube or open floor environment. My personal experience, having worked on a few skunkworks projects over there with a couple of different teams was that there were two people to an office that was probably originally designed for one. It was a bit cozy in there for my liking but it wasn't cramped, it was quiet, and a couple of people could stand in various parts of common areas and have an actual 'stand up' collaboration. It actually seemed very collegiate. I recognize the fact that since it was an R&D group they probably had better accommodations for this type of stuff, and that they were in an 'old' building that had these personal offices probably helped too.
  - UK-AL 10y ago
    They've gotten rid off the office per developer thing now. So not surprised. A large part is probably demographics of developers is now changing.
    - dpark 10y ago
      It's not entirely gone but it's dying. I'm still in a private office. Lots of devs on my team are doubled up, though. Many teams have already moved to open spaces. Demographics are a factor. Lots of devs, especially younger devs, and especially devs who've worked at other younger companies are asking for open floor plans. Not all of them, but a sizable chunk. That plus reduced cost for providing office space to devs is pushing the company in the direction of open office spaces. I haven't seen a building get significantly renovated and not end up with open spaces.
      - Camillo 10y ago
        They are asking for open floor plans? Is there anything young people won't ruin?
        venomsnake 10y ago
        Open floor plan is great way to have life-life balance and not do any meaningful work.
        morgante 10y ago
        I'm skeptical of the claim and suspect it might be (yet another) case of an older developer blaming young people for things. None of my friends (all in their 20s) prefer open offices.
        dpark 10y ago
        Meanwhile you've got widowlark (who graduated in the past couple of years based on some brief online stalking) acting shocked that anyone would want a private office. I'm also not sure how old you think I am. I'm 34, not 74.
- chx 10y ago
  I read Showstopper! about how Windows NT was created and I got the impression that many of those people would be impossible if not closed away from others.
k__ 10y ago
Some can't choose. A friend of mine worked in a startup that was bought by MS. Somehow MS didn't want a few of the devs, but the CEO made a deal and they all got "included" into MS. So if he weren't lucky, he probably wouldn't got a big corp job in the first place.
Pigo 10y ago
As a developer there's been so many times that I've gotten tired of MS solutions, and get excited about new emerging platforms elsewhere. Then I smirk when MS incorporates that new platform's ideology. Then I'm pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be cool, and often surpassing the original. I've heard some devs claim they cherry pick from other people's work, and others that they work hard to remain progressive and relevant. I don't know if .NET Core will catch up with Node, probably not, but I respect their effort and believe competition drives the best products and technology.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  > I don't know if .NET Core will catch up with Node, probably not, but I respect their effort and believe competition drives the best products and technology. Comments like these always remind me of the vast the software development landscape is and how each stack is sheltered into it's own little cloister. People live and breath their stack and everything is framed against or in comparison to it.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- blakeyrat 10y ago
  I have different priorities than you. In terms of IDE quality, debugger quality, flexibility (ability to use actual threads if you want them!), performance... in my opinion .NET Core is already so far ahead of Node.JS it's embarrassing for them. The only thing I might stack in Node.JS' favor is their NPM package manager. Maybe. Possibly.
  - tigershark 10y ago
    Are you seriously saying that NuGet/paket are worse than a flawed package manager that even managed to cause a JavaScript global outage when a padding package was retired? What are your problems with NuGet and paket?
    - blakeyrat 10y ago
ryandrake 10y ago
> It focuses on how Satya Nadella has respected the leaders of Companies he's bought out and invited them to key meetings. Using their insight not only for product and company direction, but importantly creating culture as well. Very key to Microsoft and any tech company's success. Sometimes people forget the second part of the Borg's "You will be assimilated" announcement: "We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own." Looks like this is being adopted as well.
nojvek 10y ago
I worked in MSFT in two different teams. In P.*BI the culture was quite toxic at times. The management can be very rough and political. Re-orgs every now and then. Biased promos. Plenty of people burnt out and left. When I joined web diagnostics, it was a whole different experience. Nicest, smartest people I worked with. A different culture focused on building great products users love and helping people grow. Microsoft is a great place to work with very interesting problems to solve if you're in the right team. If you are interviewing at MS, really ask about the team culture and dig deep into it.

UK-AL 10y ago

Microsoft used to have a really good reputation for developers. Used to one of the few companies where each developer had their own office.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
manyxcxi 10y ago
Like all big companies your experience depends more on your group than the company as a whole. I've got a number of friends at MSFT in various tech roles, some have their own office as a developer, some are in a cube or open floor environment. My personal experience, having worked on a few skunkworks projects over there with a couple of different teams was that there were two people to an office that was probably originally designed for one. It was a bit cozy in there for my liking but it wasn't cramped, it was quiet, and a couple of people could stand in various parts of common areas and have an actual 'stand up' collaboration. It actually seemed very collegiate. I recognize the fact that since it was an R&D group they probably had better accommodations for this type of stuff, and that they were in an 'old' building that had these personal offices probably helped too.
- UK-AL 10y ago
  They've gotten rid off the office per developer thing now. So not surprised. A large part is probably demographics of developers is now changing.
  - dpark 10y ago
    It's not entirely gone but it's dying. I'm still in a private office. Lots of devs on my team are doubled up, though. Many teams have already moved to open spaces. Demographics are a factor. Lots of devs, especially younger devs, and especially devs who've worked at other younger companies are asking for open floor plans. Not all of them, but a sizable chunk. That plus reduced cost for providing office space to devs is pushing the company in the direction of open office spaces. I haven't seen a building get significantly renovated and not end up with open spaces.
    - Camillo 10y ago
      They are asking for open floor plans? Is there anything young people won't ruin?
      - venomsnake 10y ago
        Open floor plan is great way to have life-life balance and not do any meaningful work.
      - morgante 10y ago
        I'm skeptical of the claim and suspect it might be (yet another) case of an older developer blaming young people for things. None of my friends (all in their 20s) prefer open offices.
        dpark 10y ago
        Meanwhile you've got widowlark (who graduated in the past couple of years based on some brief online stalking) acting shocked that anyone would want a private office. I'm also not sure how old you think I am. I'm 34, not 74.
chx 10y ago
I read Showstopper! about how Windows NT was created and I got the impression that many of those people would be impossible if not closed away from others.

k__ 10y ago

Some can't choose. A friend of mine worked in a startup that was bought by MS. Somehow MS didn't want a few of the devs, but the CEO made a deal and they all got "included" into MS. So if he weren't lucky, he probably wouldn't got a big corp job in the first place.

Pigo 10y ago

As a developer there's been so many times that I've gotten tired of MS solutions, and get excited about new emerging platforms elsewhere. Then I smirk when MS incorporates that new platform's ideology. Then I'm pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be cool, and often surpassing the original. I've heard some devs claim they cherry pick from other people's work, and others that they work hard to remain progressive and relevant. I don't know if .NET Core will catch up with Node, probably not, but I respect their effort and believe competition drives the best products and technology.

cptskippy 10y ago
> I don't know if .NET Core will catch up with Node, probably not, but I respect their effort and believe competition drives the best products and technology. Comments like these always remind me of the vast the software development landscape is and how each stack is sheltered into it's own little cloister. People live and breath their stack and everything is framed against or in comparison to it.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
blakeyrat 10y ago
I have different priorities than you. In terms of IDE quality, debugger quality, flexibility (ability to use actual threads if you want them!), performance... in my opinion .NET Core is already so far ahead of Node.JS it's embarrassing for them. The only thing I might stack in Node.JS' favor is their NPM package manager. Maybe. Possibly.
- tigershark 10y ago
  Are you seriously saying that NuGet/paket are worse than a flawed package manager that even managed to cause a JavaScript global outage when a padding package was retired? What are your problems with NuGet and paket?
  - blakeyrat 10y ago

ryandrake 10y ago

> It focuses on how Satya Nadella has respected the leaders of Companies he's bought out and invited them to key meetings. Using their insight not only for product and company direction, but importantly creating culture as well. Very key to Microsoft and any tech company's success. Sometimes people forget the second part of the Borg's "You will be assimilated" announcement: "We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own." Looks like this is being adopted as well.

nojvek 10y ago

I worked in MSFT in two different teams. In P.*BI the culture was quite toxic at times. The management can be very rough and political. Re-orgs every now and then. Biased promos. Plenty of people burnt out and left. When I joined web diagnostics, it was a whole different experience. Nicest, smartest people I worked with. A different culture focused on building great products users love and helping people grow. Microsoft is a great place to work with very interesting problems to solve if you're in the right team. If you are interviewing at MS, really ask about the team culture and dig deep into it.