I worked at Microsoft and I was unhappy with a lot of the issues people talk about.
I knew a few people internally who talked about Google like they did a better job at company culture, at engineering, at management. Maybe I bought into that myth a little myself, too.
What I've come to realize with some time away from MS and having talked to Googlers is that Microsoft and Google are essentially the same beast. From what I've heard all the worst complaints I had about MS culture also exist at Google.
For now, Google has an edge because their peak coolness is more recent than Microsoft's. I'm reminded of stories from folks who worked at MS in '99 or something like that, when it was still very much a big company but much more pleasant to be at. Maybe Google in 2013 is like Microsoft in 2003. In this theory, the "great place to work" factor is still there, but past its peak, declining, and will decline further, to the point where they eventually get to where Microsoft is today on this trajectory.
Personally I think that too many people at MS are obsessed with competing with Google, and making such comparisons, to the point that they are blinded to the idea that Google can be viewed as the old thing.
"Maybe you should work in North Korea, Microsoft is really cozy in comparison"
"Thanks for your input, Captain CouldJustifyAnythingThatWay"
"Oh, maybe you should try reading comments from dev/random, they're much worse!"
The Microsoft experience varies a lot throughout the organization. I was on a workaholic team for a year and it was a nightmare. The other four years, though, my typical day was from 10:30-4:00, and whenever I didn't feel like going in I'd "work from home" - typically on my XBox. The majority of the MS people I know have similar work ethics. (Though, it should be noted, we did get our work done. I got the highest review ratings every year I was there.)
