Wonder what the innovators do in their off time? They tinker. In The Garage.

Some of the company’s – if not the world’s – brightest minds don’t just turn off when the workday is done. They head to The Garage, a sanctuary for creativity and problem solving that harkens back to Microsoft’s start-up roots.

It’s here, fueled by Manny’s and pepperoni pizza, that that the Mouse Without Borders was born, and the idea for the forgotten Outlook attachment reminder was hatched.

Sam Trim, a technology architect by day, calls the garage an “idea factory”.

“We reshape the world in our day jobs, and that’s totally awesome, but you have to know that people like that don’t stop thinking at the end of the day,” he says. “They need a home for the rest of what they want to do. This is it.”

In the Garage’s nearly six years, more than 3,000 employees have completed more than 10,000 projects. They vary wildly in size and scope. Some become features in Microsoft’s software and services. Others are still, becoming …

Meet Trim and the other Garage denizens, and learn more about their native habitat, here.

Aimee Riordan
Microsoft News Center Staff