Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-01-24
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former

Lots of politics, not enough problem solving, people upset if you don't toe the party line. Old Microsoft is truly gone.
Pros: Amazing health insurance and wide range of other benefits make it really hard to contemplate leaving without starting to do the figures in your head. Great diversity of people inside the company, lots of stuff going on that you can get involved in even if it's not your direct job. Lots and lots of interesting people!
Cons: The 'old Microsoft' of being direct and straightforward in voicing concerns, proposing alternatives or opposing the direction being taken is truly gone. If you don't toe the line in your group, you'll become the sacrificial lamb (especially since every group needs one)!

Performance 'reviews' have little to no impact on your salary or prospects for advancement; it's all about whether your boss's boss's boss knows who you are and whether you are viewed as 'good' or 'bad'. Not to mention person leading the group must play their game well enough to get funding for promotions, or hand out career-limitingly low review scores to people who do perfectly good work. Once you find out about 'stack ranking' and that your yearly goals aren't even read by anyone who makes a decision about your review score, you might have a hard time taking this process seriously. 

It can be very depressing to work there, given the tendency for upper management to do or say short-sighted or obviously misleading things in public. Not as embarrassing for someone who is not a technologist, but if you are an engineer you will be the sounding board for all of your technical friends & family's complaints.