Company: Microsoft
Date: 2011-08-04
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: former

Great place to work
Pros: Microsoft has a lot of smart people, and it's a pleasure working alongside them, talking, discussing, and often arguing about technology and direction. 

Microsoft likes people with type A personality - those that do not shy away from expressing their opinion, and if you are that person, then you'll enjoy the environment.

Couple that with the fact that you have a wide range of products and technologies to work on, great benefits, flexible schedule, and room to grow and excel, and you've got a great combination.
Cons: Of course, as a big company, Microsoft moves slow on some things. Long release cycles are a part of the culture of shipping boxed software. But a lot of it is changing with increased focus on the Web.