Customer Reviews

Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters: What I Learned in Ten Years as a Microsoft Programmer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While the beginning of the book was an interesting read with the author talking about Microsoft's hiring practices, the inner workings of the company and his experience at SoftImage, a company acquired by Microsoft, I felt that the book went downhill quickly from there.

At exactly page 146, I felt like I was reading a different book. Unfortunately, it was a book that I did not enjoy nearly as much as the first 145 pages. From this point onward, Mr. Barr felt the need to write a long drawn out essay about the history of the computer industry peppered with comments about how it affected Microsoft.

I have read this history countless other times in books much more entertaining and comprehensive (i.e. Fire in the Valley) than this book.

The author supposedly worked on two different versions of Windows NT and Windows 2000, but there was no talk whatsoever of what it was like to work on those teams. I definitely expected more information about what specifically went on inside Microsoft (from an insider's point of view) rather than Microsoft's relation to the industry which is public knowledge.

Adam Barr writes well. I found myself agreeing with several of his analyses: esp. his dissection of MSFT's evangelistic activities and his keen understanding of the api-itis that afflicts MSFT products today.

The book is in four parts. The first is a look at MSFT hiring and interview processes, which is followed by a description of his time at Softimage (which includes a brilliant dissection of type-1 through type-4 demos), then a long and meandering recounting of his early involvement with computers and then an equally meandering final part which is a compilation of his observations about MSFT and the industry in general. I found the first two interesting enough to read, but found the final two not as compelling. He completely mis-understands the point about middleware and Java (see Lou Gerstner's book "Who said elephants can't dance?" for a different definition of middleware and business strategy). Perhaps his narrow, unappealing and unfocussed second half meanders so much because he didn't take his chances to widen his own career within MSFT as a manager or PM.

Like Adam with his interviewees, I agonized over whether or not I should give this book a "four" or a "three" star rating :). Ultimately, I had to go with the lower rating because as a developer, I was hoping to read about what "he" had actually "learnt as a developer" when I picked up the book. Unfortunately, while he talks about a whole lot of things (such as the importance of testing for product quality, and the importance of programmers getting a 'life' as they mature, the contributions of MSFT to the open source movement, etc. etc.) he doesn't at all talk about what he worked on, what was exciting and new about NT code he may have contributed to, or how methodologies and practices changed while he was there. Maybe MSFT prevents people from talking about such stuff, but by cutting out such professionally interesting bits, the book becomes a "missed opportunity" (esp. since Adam is a self described "systems guy"). Perhaps he really was writing only for the non-programmer crowd (but I doubt it).

Can't fault the author for trying, really - this is a reasonably entertaining tale and conveys a number of interesting points along the way. And frankly, I bought it for the title and the amusing things I'd heard, rather than an expectation of great insight. As long as that's your level of interest, I suspect you'll do fine. There were some good observations made herein about Microsoft's road to power (including why Win95 adoption was so crucial, which will be mirrored shortly by WinXP) and some dubious ones (like why APIs are good but middleware is bad). A mixed bag, and definitely one written in a fashion that makes its name ring rtue, but for all that it certainly has its moments.

This is a great book for anyone who really wants to know what it's like, and was like, on the inside at Microsoft. If you want to know how the world's most successful software company really operates from a person who has been in the trenches, as opposed to some breathless overhyped narrative by a "writer", then get this book. Adam Barr's book is an entertaining mix of some history, some common sense debunking of a few of the myths that exist about Microsoft, and some real reflection on the way that the company operates. Microsoft's challenge moving forward will be to preserve the small company values that made it so successful while addressing some of the real issues raised in this book.

In this book you'll find the story of Microsoft and SoftImage in the 1990s, from a software developer's point of view. I worked at Microsoft myself for most of this time and I can say that the book is accurate and gives a good sense of the place, and of the problems facing software developers. I especially liked the detailed discussion of hiring practices. In the software business the assets walk out the door each night and a software company is only as good as its employees - hence the critical importance of hiring and retaining good ones.

The author includes a history of the personal computer industry and some thoughts on the problems facing Microsoft now, from court battles to public opinion. If you want to get a sense of what it's like inside the company, this is a really good book. I enjoyed reading the book and recommend it to you.

This book is a meandering, sometimes disjoint tour of one developer's highs and lows over 10 years revealing the true 'secrets' to Microsoft's software development success. Although a former Microsoft employee, Adam is not afraid to refreshingly scold Microsoft time and time again. Adam bluntly unveils the man behind the powerful curtain describing the inner mechanics of recruiting, program managers, developers, testers, and acquisitions. From his early beginnings as a BBSophile to his work on NT, to SoftImage, and back again to the mother ship, Adam revisits his Microsoft memoirs critiquing his colleagues along the way. At minimum, the book places a vulnerable human face on one of the most powerful corporations today. Enjoyable for anyone in the industry.

I was really enjoying it up until it started to get into the history of the Altair and DOS. That section is huge, if i wanted a computer history book i would of bought one...great start, Softimage drags on, history of Microsoft and the PC.

I skipped those boring parts

I thought this was a great "trip down memory lane" in regards to the birth of the PC and Microsoft. Adam does a great job of providing history and context of the era.

Although the text was long and often would stray from the intended topic, the extra info was pertinent and interesting.

This was a great read for someone who grew up with the PC and Microsoft.

This book really answers some great questions for those interested in learning more about Microsoft.

First hand accounts of intereviewing and recruiting.
Working for MS in hell like projects.
History of computers and how it relates to MS.
Open Source Development vs. MS.
Answering why people hate MS so much.

Take the chapters you want, unless you could enjoy them all. I found the book intensly amusing at the beginning during the interviewing and recruiting. It sorely frustrating during the work in Canada (All the hangups and ... that happened). Brief, but well described history of computing (other book). But by far the debate between Open Source Development and Microsoft Development was great.

If you are interested at all in the computer industry this is a must read. Regardless if you fancy yourself as a OSDN vs Closed Source Developer, Start-Up vs. Large Biz. It is important to know your enemies or allies. This has fueled me with lots of information in understanding more about the whole view of the Computer Arena.

It would be a wonderful book if you consider reading 1/3 of the book, where the author talks about recruiting in Microsoft, as well as his experience working at Softimage (bought by Microsoft). That part was great. However, later in this book, he spent too much time talking about the history of computer, which I have to say that there are some unneccessary parts.
There are some points I don't agree with the author: Java issue. He talks about how important API it is in Microsoft strategy to dominate the operating system market. However he contradicts himself by suspecting about the use of Java API. Well, that's also opne strategy of Sun to take some pieces of this market. He claims lots of biases against Java, which I personally find them untrue.