Microsoft employees recall their early years

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Trailblazers and Comparisons to Other Tech Giants

  • Some argue Microsoft and Apple are uniquely foundational because they were present at the birth of personal computing.
  • Others push back, citing Amazon (AWS), Google, and Meta as trailblazers in cloud, search/ads, and social media.
  • There’s debate over “inventing a product” vs “creating the product market”; several say the latter is what truly matters.

Is Microsoft Innovative or Just a Fast Follower?

  • A critical view: Microsoft mostly clones others’ products (Windows/Mac, .NET/Java, Teams/Slack, Loop/Notion, Office apps vs earlier tools), driven by PMs targeting proven markets and leveraging bundling.
  • Opposing view: innovation includes refinement and recombination; Excel, Visual Basic, Windows 95’s UI, WSL2, PowerShell, VS Code, TypeScript, Orleans, Z3, etc. are cited as substantial contributions.
  • Apple is cited as the archetypal “second mover” that wins by polish and marketing, complicating simple “who invented what” narratives.

Business Strategy, Monopoly, and Stability

  • Some see Microsoft as pioneering the playbook for global tech monopolies that later firms followed.
  • Others highlight long-term support, backward compatibility, and continued investment in acquisitions (e.g., GitHub) as key to enterprise dominance.
  • There is lingering resentment over predatory/anti-competitive behavior and past product quality (e.g., IE6-era Windows).

Origins, Privilege, and Early Culture

  • Discussion of Microsoft’s early advantage: location, connections (IBM relationship), and Gates’ privileged upbringing and early access to mainframes.
  • Users contrast that with similar-but-local efforts elsewhere that never scaled.
  • Multiple comments reminisce about 1990s Microsoft: private offices, strong engineering culture, dedicated build/test labs.

Windows, Branding, and Product Quality

  • Windows still defines Microsoft’s image even though it hasn’t been the main revenue driver for decades.
  • Some recall Windows 95 as a “future shock” moment; others note it simply caught up with capabilities Mac/Amiga/NeXT already had.
  • Modern Windows is criticized as bloated and visually confusing compared to earlier versions.

Parallels with Apple and Google

  • Concern that when flagship products (Windows, Google Search, iPhone) degrade or stagnate, the whole brand suffers.
  • Split views on Google Search: many “power users” say it’s worse and rely on LLMs; others claim it’s better for ordinary users, especially with AI answers.
  • iPhone under Cook is seen by some as incremental and “soulless”; others value its stability, ecosystem integration, and think innovation pressure is overstated.

Hobbyists, Open Source, and AI Training

  • The “Open Letter to Hobbyists” is contrasted with today’s open-source–dominated ecosystem that Microsoft itself depends on.
  • Some argue that relentless copying (and now LLM training on uncredited work) undermines creators’ incentives; others emphasize that art and software inherently build on prior work.
  • There’s concern about VC-driven relicensing of “hobby” projects and calls for more sustainable, possibly public, software funding models.

Nostalgia and Cultural Impact

  • Commenters recall the emotional impact of early Microsoft products (Windows 95, bundled media, early Windows games/dev tools).
  • Even critics concede that Microsoft’s decisions largely defined the mainstream desktop experience and broader computing history.