Microsoft to give new devices to all employees

Microsoft to give new devices to all employeesIn an announcement made during the course of a last-week meeting, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer revealed that all of the company's 94,000 full-time employees worldwide will be getting a new smartphone, a tablet and a computer.

According to the announcement, which has come at a time when Microsoft is all set to launch its eagerly-awaited Windows 8 operating system and a horde of new devices, each of the Microsoft employees will be given a Windows Phone 8 handset to replace the handset they are currently using for work purposes; along with a Windows 8 PC; and the company's forthcoming Surface tablet.

While Microsoft already has a precedence of relying on its employees for the testing of new devices - with a few trials being larger than some client enterprise implementations -, the recent `hardware giveaway' announcement implies that approximately 282,000 Windows 8-based devices will be handed out by the company this time round.

About Microsoft's decision to give new devices to all its full-time employees, Lou Gellos - director of corporate communications at Microsoft - said in an email statement that the move was chiefly aimed at ensuring that the company's employees were equipped with "the latest and best technology" so that they can be "more productive," and also "great evangelists."

Gellos further added that the `hardware giveaways' announced by Ballmer underscored that "Microsoft is on the eve of one of its greatest moments as it prepares to ship a remarkable line-up of devices and services."