I love it that the reason you stopped pirating games is malware. Not because stealing is wrong.

You people have only yourselves to blame for DRM.

Ohhhhh, nice one! Yeah, that's real fucking mature. I have "survived" the stack ranking system by doing good work, year after year. I have been promoted many times, and I have promoted (or been part of the group that promoted) plenty of people. I even left Microsoft to take time off to do different things (cycling, traveling), worked elsewhere, and yet still liked the company enough to come back again. No drama, no gaming it -- I just work with good people. Maybe that's hard for you to believe, but that's your problem. Again, I know you hate Microsoft -- but that doesn't mean that the object of your hatred conforms to your expectations of it.

No, actually, I'm an architect. I have managed teams from 2 to 8 people, and currently, I manage 2 people (which I think is ideal). And in my group, an architect is someone who spends the majority of their time designing *and implementing*. Nice try, though.

If you don't like your environment, then sack up and leave. It's really that simple.

It's always nice to meet a bigot. I'm glad I'll never work for/with you, too.

You're obviously new to Slashdot. Welcome!

Oh, please. You have obviously never worked a serious job, in any kind of creative endeavor. Ever. I love my job, and I love the work I am doing. Should I sit on my ass and miss an important deadline? Should I let my team down, let down the mission? Hell no, I'm going to make it happen. Find me one single successful company that wasn't built on the exact same gotta-do-it spirit. Go read about the history of ANY serious development effort, and you will find plenty of people going far beyond what a 40-hour/week job demands. I would WANT a job that was a dull 9-5 punch-in punch-out 40-hour-week. I love going above and beyond the call, when it's needed. And I don't destroy myself or my family to do it.

Microsoft isn't "bragging about it." Someone ran an article on something that Microsoft is doing. Big difference. Also, if anyone can drop in at any time, then that explodes your criticism about poor, overworked Microsoft employees -- because it isn't limited to Microsoft employees. Unemployed highschool kids could drop in.

The "long hours" thing is mostly a myth. I've worked at Microsoft for 12 years now, and in most groups I've been in, "crunch time" is fairly short. Groups that run people to death generally don't survive, because they destroy their best people or drive them away. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not the norm.

And second, the "20% time" at Google is also largely a myth, and is largely a way to shoot your own career in the foot. I've got several friends in Google, and they all say the same thing -- the 20% time is marketing hype, used to hook gullible college kids. If you actually work at 80% capacity on your day job, then you lose out to your peers who are working 100% on their day job. The 20% is just a way to screw yourself.

Oh no, people get to do whatever they want and be creative, in a space provided by their employer. Yeah, that's such a terrible thing. It's even more terrible that what they want to do doesn't conform to your own expectations. Booooooo hooooo.

I work at a group in Microsoft, and you are just completely effing clueless. My specific group is more fun than any startup I've worked in (I've worked through two startups), and many other groups that I work with are just as healthy, productive, and focused. The work we are doing is on a long time-scale (meaning, we're not driven into making bad trade-offs just to meet idiotic short-term deadlines), it's significant, and I think it will have a significant impact when the time is ready. Your hatred for Microsoft doesn't mean that the object of your hatred conforms to your views. First you set up a straw-man argument, assuming that what Microsoft is doing is exactly what your own dysfunctional company is doing. Then you basically say that Microsoft is doomed because your own situation is terrible. That's simply a fallacy.

That's just completely false. I know you hate Microsoft, but you're obviously writing from total ignorance. I've worked at Microsoft for years, and there is plenty of goofing off and just general creativity. Any group (inside or outside Microsoft) that drives people at 80 hours/week forever is just doomed to failure, because they will burn people out and destroy their most important asset.

Jesus christ, people. MS does something halfway cool, and all you can do is moan about it.

Give your food away for free.