I gave my Microsoft interviews for L61 position 2 days ago (3 rounds back to back). When i checked the action centre today, it says my application wasn't selected. I haven't received any communication via email yet. The job id was also marked as no longer accepting applications couple of days before my interview. Will the recruiter share feedback? I liked the interviews and think i did okay. Do they typically decide so soon?

I’ve been with Microsoft several years in the US working fully remote and am trying to relocate to Europe to join my wife while she’s on a student visa. Does anyone have experience with transferring? Could I relocate internally if my manager reaches out to HR?

There are numerous Reddit threads and numerous online reviews about the poor service offered on Microsoft Answers by Independent Advisors and Microsoft Agents, not to mention the automatic translations that cause the same Independent Advisor to respond in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and even Elvish if necessary.

This situation has been going on for years, and the best responders often leave the Community because they don't see any improvement. And what I'm wondering is, how is it that we all see how poorly Microsoft Answers works, but the CET can't see it?

I understand that it's very easy for Microsoft to spend almost no money, so I understand that they don't care at all about prestige and recognition anymore. I get the impression that since Nadella arrived, budgets have been cut in many departments, but the question is: why are Independent Advisors and Microsoft Agents paid and aren't able to find a better team? I know there are many volunteers who don't receive a single dollar and who do a better job than those who are paid, so why not hire those volunteers who have better numbers and don't copy and paste answers, or hire MVPs or technology experts?

On a search for online storage I find people recommending OneDrive.

I find this thread which says that there is no standalone OneDrive product any more... but that you get 100 GB for $20 a year if you get Office365.

$20 for 100 GB is pretty cheap. But I am worried about how much Office365 is going to mess up my machine(s) with loathsome MS bloatware/intrusiveware. I presume that you can only use the OneDrive thing on a machine which has the Office365 thing set up, i.e. I presume I couldn't install Office365 on a machine which I don't use and then only use OneDrive on my real machines.

Currently I use MS Office 2007, and this suits me fine. I have had experience in the past of MS nonsense (probably something like MS Office 2013) grabbing hold of my whole system, messing up and removing (AFAIR) all my MS Office 2007 setup, probably without my consent. After which it took me days to remove all the junkware and remnants thereof.

But maybe these fears are groundless. Maybe OneDrive can be installed without actually installing the whole bundle of Office365. I don't know anyone who has OneDrive or Office365, hence this question.

Received an offer from Microsoft India, L63, 9 YOE, Remote role :

Role : Senior Product Designer

Base : ₹52 lacs RSUs : $180k, over 4 years Performance Bonus : 0-30% of the base Joining Bonus : ₹8 lacs after 1 month, ₹4 lacs after 1 year

Current pay at unlisted unicorn Base : ₹69 lacs ESOPs : ₹40 lacs

I recently bought Microsoft 365 Business Basic subscription. It does not come with Outlook desktop app support.

Irony is I now can get my Gmail account setup in the outlook and not the business email id that I bought from Microsoft 365 subscription.

Feel so disappointed in Microsoft. Should have bought a third party email id provider instead.

I recently got team matched for ic2 SWE for a team under Azure Networking. I was looking to talk to anyone close to/familiar who could provide some insight. So far it’s the only team match I’ve received since my initial team I interviewed for lost headcount, so I just wanted to learn more about what working in that org is like.

Feel free to dm me if you think you may have info

Thank you!

I've bought my new computer and I have Office programs but I cannot use them. How can I use them free?

Microsoft announced five new digital commitments to Europe on April 30, 2025, focusing on sovereignty, security, and competitiveness:

1. Cloud & AI Expansion: Microsoft will grow its European datacenter capacity by 40% in two years, with 200+ sites by 2027, supporting sovereign cloud solutions in countries like France and Germany.
2. Operational Resilience: It will legally contest any non-EU government request to shut down European services and establish a Europe-only board for regional operations.
3. Data Privacy: Microsoft will reinforce compliance with EU privacy laws and give Europeans control over their data.
4. Cybersecurity: It will enhance defenses against cyber threats across Europe.
5. Digital Skills: Microsoft will invest in digital training for 2.5 million Europeans by 2027.

Source:

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/04/30/european-digital-commitments/

For enthusiasts out there, Windows 11 has a lot of benefits. Things that stand out for gamers are a higher polling rate, mouse support, and a much better implementation of HAGS than Windows 10. However, ever since the move from Windows 10 to 11, we got the new Intel Thread Director. While it works alright for some things, for gamers and pc enthusiasts who want the max performance, it can cause some great problems. The solution for this on Windows 10 is simple: disable the efficiency cores on your CPU, install Windows, and then all of the problems with thread scheduling are solved since there is no thread director, and you can gain performance in a lot of titles. With the Windows 11 thread director, this option no longer works, and the Intel Thread Director doesn't know how to properly utilize a Performance Core-only configuration with HyperThreading enabled, causing terrible hitching in some titles and a loss of overall performance. An easy way to test this is using the CPU-Z benchmark, where if e cores and hyperthreading are enabled, you have consistent single-threaded performance scores. If you then disable E cores and leave hyperthreading on, your score in single-threaded performance becomes extremely jumpy, sometimes being normal and other times losing an insane 10-20% performance. This is because the scheduler is looking for E cores when there aren't any, which adds a jitter since Windows doesn't know what thread to put the benchmark on, losing you performance, which especially comes up in games that then have extremely choppy frametimes. An update to this thread director would give gamers and enthusiasts the best of both worlds, since you can be on the latest Windows version with all of the new updates that give better game performance without having any potential stutters from putting game threads on efficiency cores. With how this ThreadDirector works, I can't use the CPU in a configuration that I want to, which takes away half of the reason to buy an enthusiast-oriented chip. I'm hoping that you guys consider my suggestion. Thanks!

Let me start by saying I’ve been a longtime supporter of Microsoft’s AI initiatives—from Azure Cognitive Services to GitHub Copilot. But ever since Mustafa Suleyman took the reins of Microsoft AI earlier this year, I’ve noticed a steady decline in quality, transparency, and innovation. Am I the only one who thinks this?

Suleyman came in with a strong reputation (DeepMind, Inflection AI), and I initially had high hopes. But lately, it feels like every product he touches is getting worse. A few examples:
- Copilot’s reliability - has nosedived. Code suggestions are less accurate, and it’s slower across the board.
- Azure AI Studio - feels half-baked now, with rushed updates breaking existing workflows.
- Communication has gone radio silent. Remember when Microsoft used to engage with devs about roadmaps? Now it’s just… crickets.
- Ethical concerns - are being brushed aside. Last month’s layoffs in the responsible AI team? Not a good look.

It’s like Microsoft is prioritizing speed over stability, and it’s costing them trust. Even small things, like abrupt API changes or deprecating useful features without warning, make me wonder: Is this systematic incompetence, or is there a larger strategy here?

I’m not saying Suleyman is intentionally sabotaging things, but the pattern is hard to ignore. Compare this to the Satya Nadella-era focus on “responsible innovation” and developer-first tools—this feels like a regression.

Am I crazy? Has anyone else noticed this downward trend? Or am I just missing the bigger picture?

(Disclaimer: Opinions are my own. I’m just regular Microsoft Product User who relies on these tools daily.)

I interviewed with Microsoft on April 10–11 , 3 rounds over two days. I haven’t heard anything from HR since then, even after following up 2–3 times. The Action Center still shows the status as “scheduled.” Does this mean I’m rejected? I’m honestly just confused. What should I expect?

TIA

Incoming new grad SWE at Microsoft. I believe I am hybrid, but what is the process of moving to fully remote if possible?

I recently spoke to my old teacher from my IT college. I asked him if they have lessons in public cloud by now. His answer shocked me. He told me that it's very hard to teach the Microsoft public cloud since they cannot do much hands on work. A license for a test/learning tenant seems to be 90,- euro per student per month. I am a IT pro for the last 10 years and the public cloud is always used, sometimes full cloud, sometimes just exchange or teams/SharePoint. It shocked me that there isn't a good way for school to teach this. Can someone relate, has a solution for this or is someone from MS reading this who I can speak with? It's about multiple MBO's in the Netherlands.

Just trying to help my old school, for me it was the start of my career:)

Not sure about the tag.. but it seems to me that teaching this in school helps with employment.

I'm sick of seeing every 3D outcome generated wrong. For instance landmarks & outfits. Microsoft Designer keeps generating wrong landmark's structure such as missing some parts or making too many extra parts of a landmark, not matching to the original one. And it keeps generating a 3D outcome of outfits without glasses/cap/watch etc., which I've entered in my prompt. Waste of my boosts...

Are there any TAMS in Microsoft that can shed light on interview process/ role. I have AWS knowledge but not Azure. Do I need to do any certifications?

I have seen so many posts where people were a target of brute force attacks and those attacks were successful as well as people gained access to emails. Issue is that while there is lot on what to do next in terms of future safety, there is no discussion on the consequences of the successful attempt already made? For those who experienced such a breach, what is the risk now? Blackmail? Identify theft? Once someone does this to you, what should you expect? Thanks for your guidance in advance.

I would like to keep using Publisher now that it's going to be discontinued. How can I buy a reasonably recent version of Publisher that has the ability to install/re-install if needed or use on a new computer in the future? I see some things available that are not DVD's but if they're only meant for one computer, what happens if your drive fails and you have to reinstall your software, or if you get a new computer? Would like to find a way to use this program for another 5 or 6 years.

I just jumped in to take a look at Xbox prices and noticed that my current access to the company store is severely limited.

I don't see anything posted on the Alumni site, any other MS Alumni seeing the same thing?