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Security didn't seem to mind that I was taking photos.

... they should, dud

Shows the general company policy on Security.....;)
Stranger

It's an open campus; we see tourists snapping pics all the time.

I suspect that there are tons of hidden cameras, all over campus, hidden in the sculptures or fountains. They watch everyone, they monitor the halls, they watch us work, they watch people fill up $#!+henge with tarps and water. But we don't know! Deep in the most secretive hallway on campus there is a giant security room, filled with so many TV screens that it looks like a Best buy shipping plant.

I think.

Microsoft and security don't generally belong in the same sentence.

They sure got upset when I took some pictures... some security guy in a white van pulled over and kindly asked me to delete them all (which I did). Nevermind that I recovered them all afterwards :p the bloke was probably only doing his job.

I've never seen anybody asked for their ID while playing on the field. I walked all over campus without anybody asking for my ID.

so much for MS security

security is a culture

I think Microsoft has proven that they have no idea what security is!

Experienced crash dummies only please!!

This isn't the CIA, you can walk around all you like but its a bit harder to get into a building (where the ID's come into play). Also this is like a No Trespassing sign so if they do enforce it you can't use the excuse that you didn't know.

Security has become more strict lately. If you're wandering around campus with a camera you will be asked for a badge or asked to leave.

Even Microsoft employees sometimes forget which building is where. They weren't built in order, and some numbers are missing. The way the numbering works is that each time Microsoft plans a building, it gets a number. When projects are canceled or delayed, the buildings end up being built out of order or numbers go missing.
A favorite prank is to send an intern to a meeting at building that doesn't exist.
In the distance you can see the recruiting building.

Is this why MS products have sometimes "skipped" version numbers?

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

This was one of the several buildings used by Office. Back in when I was working on IE5, Office couldn't ship until IE was ready. Both of us were accused of what's called Schedule Chicken: One team says they're going to be shipping on time knowing that they won't but with the expectation that other team will have to push back their release date for unrelated reasons and then both teams will get more time to work on their software. To prove that we were on time, we made a bet: whichever team was behind had to carry a keg of beer from their building to the other building every Friday. Needless to say, my team (IE) had a free keg every Friday I was there.

Man, I loved those days

Thats Building 16.

One summer they gave out ice cream here. The ice cream was kept cold with dry ice. Dry ice + a bunch of geeks + some fountains = ... lots of dry ice fog. It was pretty cool.

Back when Office was in this particular complex (through 2004), whenever Office shipped, a huge party was thrown in this courtyard. Various and sundry individuals would get thrown in the fountains to celebrate. No one was immune, even the VP and his general managers would get dunked. The concrete was usually soaked in champagne. The last time (2003 shipped), BillG spoke here and made a hasty exit before he could end up in the fountain.

I just want to see my words written here.

In the words of ever AOL user that ever existed, "Me too."

Beautiful velvet sweatshop

Bay Bay

This huge MSN banner is atypical for Microsoft. There's often smaller banners on the buildings, but Apple is the only company who's HQ's I've visited that regularly has huge promotional posters on the buildings.
BTW - if anybody from Microsoft Marketing is reading - that fat guy in the butterfly suit is judiciously stupid. He does not make me want to try MSN, matter of fact he makes me want to stay far away from MSN because I fear I might have to look at him when using the service. If anybody should be in that butterfly suit, find some somebody that people find attractive so they'll be drawn in, not repulsed.

Besides being home to the silly butterfly guy, this building (35) is home to SQL Server and WinFS.

Alternate caption for the advertising:

Misssterrrr Andersonnnnn!

I don't know what that MSN banner was doing on the SQL building anyway. Stop invading our space :)

This is building 34 on one of the sunniest days we've had here in a while. It's notable because (a) Exchange is in this building, and (b) so is BillG and SteveB.

Another notable fact: buildings 34 and 35 have _exactly_ the same layout and color scheme. It's impossible to tell from inside which building you're in. It's not uncommon to accidentally walk back to what you think is your office -- and find that it's someone else's, since you're in the wrong building.

Nooo, Bill is in building 8.

Everyone knows that big Bill and bald Steve work in an underground layer that is protected by heavly armed monkeys with M16's and C4.

Those are the same monkeys who built windows Bob if you remember. they had to be retrained to hold M-16's and know how to push a button for the c-4. It was a pain.

Nice Building , how come i never seen this one before , Is this in Microsoft campus

Awesome for bill to say to that!!!

Bill Gates works on the top floor of this building it is noticable as Ziff Davis has a photo inside bill gates office and there is a buiding opposite off set to the left a bit so bills office is facing the glass staircase on the oppoise building it requires some thinking but he works there.

I believe this older building is where the Avalon team is, which is the user interface part of the Longhorn, which is the code name for the next major version of Windows.
It seems funny to me that something as revolutionary and new as Longhorn is being developed in one of the older and more bland buildings on campus.

Building 10 is where I started contracting in 1993 and where I ended up in 1999. In between I worked in about a dozen others. Office moves are regular things at MS, along with reorgs!

WPF is here nowadays and so is NTFS.

The bathroom downstairs hasn't had toilet paper since 01' No Joke. When BillG and Steve were meandeing through katie said she saw Bill look inside the room and then come out laughing as if he has personally arranged there being no paper in the damn place.

Is this Building 25?

Nope. 28.

Looks like the Networking Building

Looks like rest rooms for programmers.

that's a nice shot

Nice Chemtrail

Same Here

Should have a Canadian flag there!

Who stole the Moon and Star from green Pakistan's flag.

This is where I gave my company's brown bag lunch to the Visual Studio Industry Partners team and VS.NET team.

My spouse works in this building. When I worked for Exchange, I worked here too.

Indigo Team

ASP.NET and IIS, too.

Great blog!

I know most of you are from Microsoft, what are some of the contracting firms, that hire for Microsoft projects.
If some one could e-mail me this information
at
Nishi57@hotmail.com, that would be great.

Excell Data and Volt are the biggies.

Also Spherion.

Looks empty.......like my head...