"They make zero effort to recruit the brightest minds in the industry." is true? Could you explain in detail how you know this to be true?
Also, you haven't addressed why you think even if my assertion is true how Microsoft's so called revival having nothing to do with tech isn't true.
Are compensation and perks the only factor in attracting talent? Are they a prerequisite? Are you able to substantiate this belief with facts?
> Giving them challenging things to work on.
Can you substantiate your claim that no one at Microsoft has interesting things to work on lately? Can you at least link to some anecdotal stories with a bit of substance to them?
> Giving them good promotion paths within the company. Making the company engineering-driven rather than middle-manager driven. Google and Facebook do all of them. Microsoft currently do none.
Again, do you have any evidence other than your opinion?
> Also, you haven't addressed why you think even if my assertion is true how Microsoft's so called revival having nothing to do with tech isn't true.
Azure. Their revenue increasingly comes from Azure. It is new. It is technology.