Company: Microsoft
Date: 2008-06-11
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: current

Great place to start your career
Pros: Best reason: lots of smart people around you. You can learn directly from the source. 

Also - good flexibility in choosing a project. Working for Microsoft can be a programmer's dream. If you don't like what you are working on, you can always choose something more interesting or appropriate for you. 

Medical compensation is pretty good.
Cons: Within the company, it might be hard to find a startup-like atmosphere. Senior management is more risk-adverse here than in other places in the industry. That said, several cool projects here and there (especially Live-related) started to appear although it's more the exception than the rule. 

Also, traffic.