Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 15th May 2006 10:06 UTC, submitted by Mica Schunarez
Windows A top Microsoft engineer has thrown out a weekend challenge to the Windows Vista team: find and fix a bug in the current code and earn US$100. The employee who installs the latest Vista build at home and squashes the most bugs before Monday will get an extra US$500. Brian Valentine issued the challenge Friday in an e-mail to members of the team working on Vista, the next update of the company's Windows operating system.
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Taxes?
by ThanhLy on Mon 15th May 2006 19:45 UTC
ThanhLy
Member since:
2006-03-14

Are those bounties tax-able? Or will they be distributed as a "gift?"

RE: Taxes?
by JacobMunoz on Mon 15th May 2006 20:13 in reply to "Taxes?"
JacobMunoz Member since:
2006-03-17

"Are those bounties tax-able? Or will they be distributed as a 'gift?' "
- Probably only for those that make over $300,000.00 a year and have clever accountants.

Seriously, is it just me or does $100 sound kinda cheap? MS is worth a heck of a lot, and if they're SO concerned about debugging Vista - wouldn't that be worth more than a chincy little C-note?

And one wonders whether or not the type of bug you find will effect the payment. Does a video rendering bug count as much as a filesystem bug?

Not that any of us in the outside-MS world can participate, but this sounds a lot like the Bush administration's "hundred dollar rebate" scheme to 'compensate' for rediculous gas prices. I try to stay away from political comments as much as possible, but there's some parallel in that.

Article: "VeriSign's iDefense offered to pay US$10,000 for reports of flaws that end up with a "critical" severity rating in a Microsoft Security Bulletin"
- Now THAT'S more like it...

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