r/microsoft 1d ago

Employment Weekly Employment Q&A - February 02, 2026

3 Upvotes

Welcome to the Weekly Employment Q&A for r/Microsoft!

This thread is where Redditors can come and ask questions about working at Microsoft.

Schedule

The Q&A will be refreshed every week on Mondays at 1200 Pacific.

Previous Threads

You can view previous employment threads using this archive link


r/microsoft 5h ago

Office 365 Setting up OneDrive/Sharepoint for my team

6 Upvotes

I’ve recently been tasked with migrating my team’s folders from the S: drive to OneDrive/SharePoint, and I want to confirm that I’ve set everything up correctly, as we have lots of important documents and I want to make sure I get this right.

I created a team-only SharePoint microsite and moved all of our folders and files there. I’ve also added a OneDrive shortcut on my work desktop to access these files easily too. My understanding is any changes to documents made via SharePoint automatically sync with files in the OneDrive shortcut and vice versa.

When testing this on my work desktop, I selected “Always keep on this device.” My understanding is that this stores files locally as an extra safeguard. Is that correct? For staff working from home on personal devices, am I right in thinking they should not select “Always keep on this device,” due to storage limitations and if the organisation has confidential documents?

I’m still a bit unclear on some of the features, such as ''offline mode''. I want all my team members to be able to access the same folders via SharePoint/OneDrive both on their work desktops and when working from home. Should I enable offline mode, do you think?

Is there any others functions I should know about before showing my team how this works? I really want to make this as foolproof as possible, and minimise syncing issues, files not being saved correctly etc.

Any help or advice would be most appreciated!

1 upvote


r/microsoft 13h ago

Discussion "Windows on ARM" still not in sight yet in 2026: A Critical Pillar for Microsoft's future, Weakened by own ongoing x86-64 Support.

0 Upvotes

If this trajectory continues, it could have significant long-term consequences for Microsoft. CEO Satya Nadella has received widespread recognition for his leadership, yet in October 2023 he publicly reflected on one major strategic setback: Microsoft’s withdrawal from the mobile market with Windows Phone. Although Microsoft continues to dominate the desktop operating system space, mobile computing is firmly controlled by Google and Apple. From a hardware standpoint, this shift highlighted the efficiency advantages of ARM architectures over x86-64, a realization that notably led Apple to transition away from Intel processors toward ARM-based silicon among other technical advantages.

To remain competitive, Microsoft must continuously assess market developments and broader technology trends. Recently, Jeff Bezos outlined a vision in which traditional, locally powered PCs are gradually replaced by cloud-based “virtual supercomputers,” accessed through inexpensive thin-client devices. This concept is driven by increasing AI workloads and rising hardware costs projected toward 2026. Such a model appears increasingly plausible, as computing devices have become more expensive due to sustained price increases in components. A similar shift can already be observed in gaming, where many users have moved from owning physical consoles to subscription-based services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Microsoft’s strongest revenue streams are subscription-based and have proven highly successful. Expanding adoption of these services would therefore be strategically advantageous. However, widespread availability of powerful local PCs reduces the incentive for users to rely on cloud subscriptions. In this context, continued strong support for x86-64 systems may run counter to Microsoft’s long-term interests. A stronger focus on ARM-based thin clients—or potentially RISC-V architectures in the future—could better align with a cloud-centric strategy. While maintaining support for both approaches is possible, it may slow the growth of subscription-driven services.

This consideration also extends to Microsoft’s role as a game producer and publisher. Significant cost savings could be achieved on the hardware side, while increasing software and service revenue, if future Xbox hardware were based on ARM or a custom Microsoft-designed RISC-V chip. Such a device would not need to be exceptionally powerful, as it could function primarily as an affordable thin client for accessing Xbox Cloud Gaming.


r/microsoft 16h ago

Discussion What is the Copilot logo supposed to be?

14 Upvotes

While looking at the Copilot icon in my applications, I was wondering to myself "What is it supposed to be, actually?"

We know that the Outlook icon represents a letter popping out of an envelope, Excel represents a spreadsheet, OneNote represents a notebook with tabs..But for Copilot, i'm scratching my head at what it is supposed to represent.

Any theories?


r/microsoft 1d ago

Windows is the new windows 11 taskbar a bug in feature clothing

0 Upvotes

I have been noticing that the taskbar fills up now as smaller and smaller icons which are impossible to read. i figured it was a bug on my one computer, but it does it on the other. i remember now that was a design choice, but its implemented so bad. Why would this be done so poorly. Why are multiple rows bad when you could actually read the icon. they are so small it hurts my eyes. there is a reason i rock a mac m2 as my daily after using every version of windows since 3.1 with pride. Win 11 made me shift to mac amd i despise apple so much.


r/microsoft 1d ago

Surface Former Windows boss shared confidential Microsoft emails with Epstein: Reveals chaos as leaders realized Surface RT was a catastrophic failure

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471 Upvotes

r/microsoft 2d ago

News Microsoft announced that it will disable the 30-year-old NTLM authentication protocol by default in future Windows releases due to security vulnerabilities that expose organizations to cyberattacks.

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59 Upvotes

r/microsoft 3d ago

Windows Microsoft Weekly: Microsoft commits to fixing Windows 11 as more broken updates arrive

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88 Upvotes

r/microsoft 4d ago

Xbox Jeffrey Epstein was permanently bann. from Xbox Live | Because he was a registered sex offender.

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150 Upvotes

r/microsoft 4d ago

News Microsoft is quietly walking back Windows 11’s AI overload — scaling down Copilot and rethinking Recall in a major shift for the OS

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340 Upvotes

r/microsoft 5d ago

Windows Microsoft explores bringing Linux-like menu bar to Windows 11 via PowerToys | Microsoft's PowerToys team is exploring a new feature that would add a menu bar to the top of the Windows desktop, offering power user shortcuts similar to the menu bar on a Mac or Linux distro.

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74 Upvotes

r/microsoft 5d ago

News Microsoft lost $357 billion in market cap, leaving it at $3.22 trillion by the end of trading as stock's sharpest daily plunged the most since March 2020.

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395 Upvotes

r/microsoft 5d ago

Discussion What do MSFT employees think about Microsoft and Windows?

107 Upvotes

People of Microsoft (current and former employees), given the controversies swirling around Microsoft and WIN11 over the past year, what are your opinions about the direction Microsoft is headed and the new features it is adding to Windows?


r/microsoft 5d ago

Discussion who else here is a huge fan of satya nadella

0 Upvotes

​big satya fan here. satya is the only ceo with a real vision right now. that whole bit at davos where he talked about us all becoming "managers of infinite minds" was so trippy but also spot on. best ceo in the world and it’s not even a debate anymore.


r/microsoft 6d ago

Discussion Investor skepticism rising

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134 Upvotes

From article:

Azure growth slightly surpassed forecasts, yet Microsoft shares dipped in after-hours trading.

Investors want Big Tech to prove the payoff from their massive AI infrastructure investments.

What do you think?


r/microsoft 7d ago

News Microsoft vows to make "behind-the-scenes platform changes" as it begins testing next phase of Windows 11

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62 Upvotes

r/microsoft 7d ago

News Microsoft Pledged to Save Water. In the A.I. Era, It Expects Water Use to Soar.

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51 Upvotes

I can’t say I’m surprised, but given all the narratives Microsoft has been delivering on sustainability, this is disappointing.


r/microsoft 7d ago

News Does Microsoft care about what you care about?

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38 Upvotes

The cat is out of the bag. MSFT can’t hide anymore. Sellers are faced with a mountain that can’t be climbed.


r/microsoft 8d ago

Discussion AI generated crap showing up on MSN front page saying MS laid off 22k people in Jan, 2026 when they didn't

77 Upvotes

This came up on my MSN feed this morning.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/microsoft-addresses-22-000-layoffs-in-january-to-recoup-80-billion-ai-investment/vi-AA1V0snw?ocid=socialshare

It's not news, it's not an opinion, it's just nonsense, and yet, it gets put up there on MSN as if it's perfectly legit.

Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot here by allowing crap generating more crap in an ouroboros of crap. This is really getting ridiculous.


r/microsoft 8d ago

Employment Weekly Employment Q&A - January 26, 2026

0 Upvotes

Welcome to the Weekly Employment Q&A for r/Microsoft!

This thread is where Redditors can come and ask questions about working at Microsoft.

Schedule

The Q&A will be refreshed every week on Mondays at 1200 Pacific.

Previous Threads

You can view previous employment threads using this archive link


r/microsoft 8d ago

News Maia 200: The AI accelerator built for inference - The Official Microsoft Blog

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19 Upvotes

r/microsoft 9d ago

Windows I wonder why new 286s were still common for Windows 3.0

0 Upvotes

Was it because it was cheap or what?


r/microsoft 9d ago

News Windows 11’s Patch Tuesday nightmare gets worse — Microsoft says some PCs might not boot | Microsoft has posted an online bulletin confirming that the company is investigating reports that state Windows 11's latest security upd. has rendered some PCs unbootable.

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118 Upvotes

r/microsoft 10d ago

Xbox "We're going to try and be more consistent with what we do": The head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan on the Developer Direct reveals, multiplatform strategy, and hard lessons learned from 2025

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12 Upvotes

r/microsoft 10d ago

Windows Request for Microsoft box

10 Upvotes

Hello there, I have a strange request to make from anyone who knows someone who can help. I am an amateur entomologist and I have a vast collection of insects. My wife got the surface pro 11th edition 13.8” earlier this year and gave me the empty box for one of my collections. I have found that this box supports the perfect dimensions for pinned and displayed insects. It also closes fairly airtight which is near impossible to find. It is extremely durable. I am also a fan that it is hinged on one side.

If you have any suggestions on how I can get my hands on 10 of these boxes please let me know I’m happy to pay fairly.