Inside the Microsoft staff shop

Microsoft HQ: the Seattle campus as viewed from Google Earth

It's a non-descript two story building perched at a far corner of the Microsoft campus in leafy Redmond. Building number 4420, if you must know.

Downstairs is the Visitor's Centre, with its history of computing and thus of Microsoft, plus interactive demos of current and future tech. It's also the only building in Microsoft that's open to the general public.

Of course, almost every visitor would much rather sneak upstairs to the Microsoft Company Store and go shopping in the place where only the ‘Softies (or their escorted guests) are allowed to tread. And that's where we are today.

Most staffers come here on the shuttle busses that trundle around the neat green lawns and low-set buildings of the campus -- a site so large (750,000 square metres) and with so many people (some 30,000 employees and, it's said, almost as many contractors) that it has its own traffic jams, before you even get out onto the public roads.

We've hoped a ride in one of the little green-friendly Toyota Prius sedans which staff can book to quickly hop between buildings which are more than a stroll apart.

We don't have any photos of the store itself because no cameras are allowed in -- nor is anyone who doesn't work for Microsoft, unless they're accompanied by a staffer (so for this visit we have to thank Microsoft Australia PR Manager Clair Deevy, although we assure you that we did pay for our own swag -- no bribery or free laptops here, thank you very much!)

Stairway to heaven: cheap prices on everything Microsoft

The picture above is from a collection of interesting campus photos on Wangjianshuo's blog.

So what's behind those closed doors? Almost everything that Microsoft sells, but with a hefty discount, along with almost anything they can whack their logo onto. This includes co-branding ventures with product specialists such as bags by Ogio and golf gear by Nike.

Should you ever find yourself with an opportunity to shop where the ‘Softies do, here are our top five recommendations.

Windows Vista Ultimate (US$45)
How's that for sticker slashing? The shelves were almost bare of those shiny black Vista Ultimate boxes, and at almost US$350 off the official retail price we can see why. Aussie visitors would do even better, landing Microsoft's top-shelf OS for barely 10% of its RRP, or less than the price of a humble USB mouse. Mind you, even at US$20 there didn't seem to be a lot of Vista Home Basic boxes moving.

Office 2007 Ultimate (US$75)

Honest: you can buy Office cheaper as a student in Australia than as a Microsoft employee

Chalk up another solid saving -- although we can't help but note that under Microsoft's "It's not cheating" promotion currently being trialled in Australia, Aussie uni students can actually buy the same package for about the same price as the Microsoft employees who wrote the code.

Games (US$15-US$25)
The latest PC titles from Microsoft's studios were marked at US$15, with Xbox 360 games at US$25. Prices on Xbox kit were less dramatic, such as the HD DVD drive for US$190 (rrp is US$199) or the universal remote control for US$15 (rrp is US$25), which may reflect Microsoft's under-writing of the retail price and its desire not to pay the subsidy twice over through more radical staff discounting.

Microsoft USB hub mouse pad (US$16)
Something so weirdly practical that we bought one ourselves. A compact plastic-edged mouse mat with a lovely slightly textured black surface, plus four USB 2.0 ports arrayed at the rear -- perfect for plugging in your wireless mouse transmitter, a slim USB memory key (thicker ones won't fit between the mouse mat and the surface of your desk), your iPod and so forth. For bonus geek points, the clear plastic surround glows blue.

Microsoft golf balls (three for US$9)
When you get tired of playing Microsoft Golf on your PC, stride out onto the real fairways with these Bill-approved balls. They're Callaway ‘Big Bertha' balls emblazoned with a Microsoft logo.

What did we buy? The afore-mentioned USB mouse pad plus a light brown T-shirt decorated with the structure of the coffee molecule.

One thing that we didn't buy, and nor did many of the Microsoft staff, was the Zune. Two open boxes of Zunes marked down to US$225 sat by the checkout. Not a huge discount off the US$249 rrp -- and after all, Amazon is now selling Zunes for US$210. You have to ask yourself if Microsoft can't even sell the Zune for a song...

David Flynn is visiting Microsoft's campus to attend its annual TechFest event as a guest of Microsoft