Visiting Microsoft Europe

This afternoon I went out to a somewhat soul-destroying business park in a Dublin suburb to visit Microsoft’s European headquarters. I managed to snap one photo of its rather imposing façade without any black-shirted security personnel escorting me inside. Needless to say, photography wasn’t permitted inside.

Speaking of security, I don’t visit multi-national corporations very often, but Microsoft takes its security seriously. They issued me a customized visitor’s badge at Reception, and even took my photo with a webcam “to add to the database.” This sort of thing is no doubt standard practice at big companies, but for somebody used to smelly startups, it’s a bit odd.

You apparently can’t even go to the bathroom without a badge. I didn’t check if my temporary one had loo permissions. Presumably when they discover the theft of the source code for Longhorn (the code name for the next generation of Microsoft Windows), they’ll know where to call. Actually, I doubt there’s that much source code kicking around. As I understand it, the only development that goes on there is application localization.

I’m trying to avoid the obvious references to Orwell, but there was an enormous video screen overlooking the cafeteria. One could easily imagine Emperor Gates scowling down on the diners, encouraging them to be vigilant for Thoughtcriminals or whatever. There was one worrying moment when I opened my Apple PowerBook in the cafeteria to check my next appointment. I could feel all eyes and cameras turning on the gently pulsing Apple logo. The cafeteria cashier’s hand lingered near the panic button under the counter. “Just testing Office on OS X,” I said in a shrill voice. Conversation returned to normal, and I slid the offending technology back into its case.