Post #2714442

@wakame@tech.lgbt @veronica@mastodon.online @zanchey@aus.social have worked with MSFT in various roles since 1981 until now. It has certainly fluctuated a great deal as the company grew and changed. Ever since Gates left it has lacked a core vision and coherence that kept much of it from turning into chaotic development and various egocentric domains. Many who helped that coherence moved on, several very senior people left in the years after Gates became less involved and the CEO changes have each had serious impacts on senior staff, culture, vision, and the core concepts of "excellence" as well as on many other facets of the strategic directions, methods, and management. A lot of it has been documented by various tech journalists and others but there is a lot of material that hasn't been captured except in individual stories and experiences. (For example, I was one of the first people outside the company to be shown the original Outlook client and hear how it came about.) Fun times. But the newest version of Outlook....sad, symptomatic of *many* problems within MSFT of 2025 despite the growth and revenue.