Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-09-06
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Senior

Right for some people, not for all.
Pros: Microsoft has a long reach with its partner ecosystem - it may start slow on new efforts, but then builds a tidal wave across its product line.  That assumes, of course, that the market hasn't shifted again in the meantime. 

There are relatively few companies where your work will affect hundreds of millions of users.  There are different mindsets and pacing with that than companies with a few dozen or hundreds of users.

Good benefits, up to 5 weeks of vacation (depending on tenure,) et cetera.
Cons: Microsoft is continuing to implement its "Functional" organizations - putting common points of alignment among disciplines further up the food chain.   In some organizations, this puts a long distance to the person responsible for making sure the engineering disciplines work together as a team.   If you have the small company mentality of wearing many hats, read the Career Stage Profiles carefully.  In a small company creating value is the top priority - Microsoft is emphasizing creating value within your discipline.