But then...their code is sloppy, insecure and often bug ridden ;-)

Dress codes seem to be cyclic. I've worked where it was a tie every day, then casual Friday's came along, and now I work for a company that promotes business casual. Obviously there are more important things to address in the work environment but this often gets missed. I mean what if you could wear anything (or nothing) and your pay and benefits stunk? If Microsoft fosters creativity and supports its employees then the casual dress is an added benefit and likely improves versus detracts from productivity.
I suspect some day we'll be back to ties and suits, I dread that day though.

I'm 100% with you on this. I remember the days when my company was small and pretty much anything less than provacative was acceptable. We're still biz casual m-th with jeans and shorts ok on friday, but it just starts every day off wrong when you get up to go to work and have to take into account what you are "allowed" to wear or not.

Another example of "the man" trying to keep us down.

Why do you suppose that throughout history all over the world, the people in the military all wear uniforms? (This IS a serious, albeit tricky, question, so suppress your inclination to give a thoughtless snide reply.)

Pay people for products that do the job not how they dress. Years ago (15 or more) our offices were visited by the "IT Pros". All dressed in wing tip shoes, blue blazers, white shirts and ties. They made the sales pitch. We bought. Two years later the company was out of business. So much for dressing up. But they looked good.

I don't think attire has any more to do with M'Soft's success than what they serve in the company cafeteria, whether there's a foosball table in the break room, or the percentage match in the employee's 401(k)... but taken as an aggregate, and adding a results-oriented culture with rewards to match, hiring the best and brightest with salary to match... I think they may be on to something.

As a contrast, my company has a "business casual" workplace, but coats and ties are de rigeur when visiting clients. this isn't "the man" telling me to do anything since it's my company (but, as the commercial says "you.... _are_ the man?") It is however, a recognition that for most of us, attitude goes on with attire, and that in the sales environment, like prefers like, so by dressing as our clients do, we convey an empathy and understaning of their environment.

Why do people wear uniforms? Regimentation. Is regimentation appropriate in a civilian workplace, where both men and women work and are under stress to balance family/private lives with workplace responsibilities?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. To require it in situations where competent people are in short supply, such as information workers, can be appropriate if the workforce is "on display" as part of the company marketing and the employees are compensated above the norm in return. If not, then it is foolish. And yes, a tie is a piece of clothing meant to imply business, in other words it is part of the "business man's uniform". Other than that use, a tie is a ridiculous piece of clothing.

I always have found the-client-is-visiting-so-we-must-dress-up dynamic interesting. Why would you want to lie to your client about the type of office you keep? I wonder how much business has been lost because of the duplicity inherent in this practice?

Surely this article is a joke? Shouldn't this have appeared on April 1st? You have obviously never worked in a programming shop. Taking a piece of cloth, tieing it around your neck and then tieing a knot. This is professional, this is logical????? Do you want people who are stupid enough to do this, trying to write software?? Not to mention, no good programmer would work in an environment like that so you will have bunch of nice dressers who couldn't get jobs anywhere else. Microsoft not a leading software vendor?? I am not a big fan of Microsoft, but from a business standpoint, have you ever looked at how profit they make as a percentage of revenue?

To respond to E. Douglas Jensen about military uniforms...

So they know which people to kill. (wonderfully snide answer that is very accurate!) There are a number of useful side effects. A standard uniform helps remove individualism and is one part of creating a conforming attitude that is necessary for an army. "Don't think! Follow orders!"

I'm not sure how this truly relates to dress codes in a creativity based business environment.

I realize that no one can ever see anything about another person except what they can see. This includes your actions. If you are working in a "short contact" environment such as sales you must do something very visual to give the immediate impression that you are credible and what the situation requires.

In "long contact" situations the only real important thing is that your visual appearance isn't a distraction.

Microsoft is in my backyard and I know several people that work there. Too many employees are unprofessional and have a poor worth ethic.
Microsoft is a deadline driven company, not a quality driven company. They may be the leading software vendor, but they lost the quality somewhere along the way.

Microsoft as a whole is forward thinking and has definitely made valuable contributions. So I don’t want to make it sound like I am Microsoft bashing.
My point is that I am witnessing a scary trend in their trenches.

Is the dress code to blame? No. I just don’t believe Microsoft should be used as an example of the success of a casual dress code.

Microsoft bashing aside....
Professional employees will remain professional regardless of the dress code providing there is good leadership at the helm.

Even so, how you dress does say alot about who you are and affects how people react to you. Therefore a dress code should never be taken lightly.

Hahahaha, very funny. I needed a good laugh. I can't believe how many folks never made it to "OK, all of this sarcasm has been very fun".

It only adds to the absurdity when business casual is heralded as the right thing to do but casual days are used as a REWARD. For example, my company will give casual days when we reach a major company milestone or everyone in our department fills out the response cards for a charity pledge drive.