Mini-Microsoft

Mini-Microsoft was the name of a blog formerly maintained by an anonymous author who appeared to be a Microsoft employee. The term was also generally used as a pseudonym for the author of the blog, although on the site the author was listed as "Who da'Punk". The nominal goal of the site was to shrink Microsoft down to a smaller, more efficient company, but Mini-Microsoft also functioned as a place where Microsoft employees and others engaged discussion about the company and what it is like to work there. The site is credited with providing some of the impetus for internal changes at the company in 2006, specifically concerning how employee reviews are done. It was last updated in 2014.
History.
Mini-Microsoft began on July 6, 2004 with a post entitled "Blast off for Mini-Microsoft". Throughout 2005 the site began to gather attention, culminating in an interview by Jay Greene in the September 26, 2005 issue of Business Week, part of a cover package about trouble at Microsoft.
After a May 27, 2006 article by Danny Westneat in The Seattle Times, in which Mini-Microsoft admitted that his secret identity was wearing on him, he announced on his blog that he was taking a break from posting. After a short delay and an outcry from his readers he began posting again, initially with articles containing mostly links, but in the late summer of 2006 he returned to his previous posting style.
It was speculated that the blogger may no longer be employed, or be actively involved in Microsoft. The publication pace of the first few years of the blog declined from 2006–2012. Since July 2012, only three posts appeared: one in November 2012 commenting on the departure of then-Windows head Steven Sinofsky, another in August 2013 commenting on the announcement of Steve Ballmer's retirement, and one in July 2014 commenting on a Microsoft announcement of upcoming job cuts. The Twitter handle @whodapunk has also been relatively quiet, with only three tweets since July 2012.
Effect on Microsoft.
One of Mini-Microsoft's favorite targets in his early posts was the Microsoft review system, which required that employee ratings be fit to a curve, in a "rank and yank" method. For the summer 2006 review process, the system was changed so that evaluation of an employee's past performance was no longer curved. Mini-Microsoft is widely credited
From his two known interviews, it is known that: