Comments on: Some ex-Microsofties pine to leave the Googleplex

It turns out that Microsoft may actually be a better place to work than Google. Who knew?

[pscoop]

Right - like Microsoft doesn't have a different set of problems that end in a similar set of results. Like Microsoft doesn't shop broken software, and then deliver updates that fix one thing only to add another (different) bug or incompatibility. It seems to me it's just the nature of large software companies - there are going to be projects that fall into the gaps and never get the attention they deserve, or there are those projects which are so important they get too much attention (Vista anyone?) and end up getting spoiled by it. The balance between those two extremes is the ongoing challenge for large corporations. So here's the challenge for you Matt - how does Alfresco plan to attack this problem as it grows. Does having an open source product help provide a 'reality check' the prevents swinging from one extreme to the other?

[NuPharaoh]

Sounds like Google is using XP, by releasing often,and testing is done by developers(which will not need alot of testers) ...and maybe i am alone,,but i never see a HTTP404 using google, unlik the blue screen of death on windows, and other bugs.. when was "Google" ..and im loving Google Open Office... i think the microsoft guy who wrote this blog was just fired from google.

[mwdude]

The lack of structure in Google might be culturally intended; I presume it suits people who mind being told what to do, who don't like hierarchies and fossilised processes, and who are capable of organising their work themselves, without a manager breathing down their neck. Employment 2.0., so to speak.

[The_Decider]

That these people would go back to MS says more about them then the issues at Google.

[paulej]

I, too, have heard the same kinds of stories about Google's engineering methods. Good or bad, it is hard to say. Being a public company, what is ultimately important is profit. Google has plenty of that, so they can test various development approaches without getting beaten up. Now, is it search that rakes in the money? No. Not directly, at least. Search contributes to generation of targeted advertising, both on Google's web site and its thousands and thousands of Adsense customers' web sites. Adsense is how Google makes its fortune and that's precisely where a competitor like Microsoft could potentially kill Google's revenue stream. If Microsoft paid 20 to 50% more than Adsense, what do you think would happen to Google? Given that, combined with an insider view of an unfocused engineering team with no clear revenue strategy other than advertising, I can appreciate why some people would not want to stick around.