As a software developer, it means a lot to be working on a powerful machine with at least two large screens, my choice of OS if possible, and a generally nice desk. Most companies provide decent machines, but every place I've worked at required me to run their stock Windows XP (now 7) with Outlook.

The worst part of my day, every day, is managing windows (the application windows) in Windows (the OS). It's terrible. We build Java software that has a web front end. It really shouldn't matter which OS I use to develop (assuming I test in IE frequently), but I'm forced to use Windows. sigh A really really simple thing that many companies could do is to let their software developers have a bit more control over their environment.