[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-microsoft-winds-down-the-garage-its-employee-maker-space":10,"sections":41},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":30,"tags":31,"sources":36,"feedback":40,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":40,"total_tokens":40},12171,"microsoft-winds-down-the-garage-its-employee-maker-space","Microsoft Winds Down The Garage, Its Employee Maker Space","An internal FAQ says Microsoft is ending The Garage as a centralized function, closing the maker spaces behind its employee experiments and hackathon projects.","Microsoft is closing The Garage, the set of maker spaces where employees built experimental apps and hardware, including during the company's annual hackathon events.\n\nGeekWire first reported the closure. Notepad then saw an internal FAQ sent to employees, which said: \"We're winding down The Garage program as a centralized function.\" The FAQ added that Microsoft will \"continue to explore new ways to help employees build skills, collaborate across boundaries, and bring a hacker mindset to their work.\" The main Garage space sat on the company's Redmond, Washington campus and served as the central hub. The portions quoted so far give no closing date and do not say what happens to the hackathons themselves.\n\nThe wording is worth reading closely. \"Centralized function\" describes how the program was organized, not necessarily whether the work stops. That phrasing could point to experimentation moving into individual teams, though the FAQ excerpts do not say so.\n\nThe trade-off is familiar. A central maker space gives people from unrelated groups a shared room and a reason to meet. A \"hacker mindset\" is harder to schedule, and without a dedicated place it depends on whether each manager lets people spend time on side projects. The FAQ's list of goals (skills, collaboration across boundaries, a hacker mindset) is also notably light on concrete replacements.\n\nThe open question is what the \"new ways\" turn out to be: a program with space and time set aside, or a general encouragement with no room attached.","[\"microsoft\",\"the-garage\",\"hackathon\",\"workplace\"]","2026-10-22T16:00:00.000Z","2026-10-22T16:34:24.914Z","2026-10-22T16:34:25.078Z","published",null,[24],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Credit the reporting (GeekWire first reported the closure; Notepad saw the internal FAQ, via The Verge), and cut or hedge claims the source doesn't support, including that Microsoft has 'spent years' describing itself as a place where small teams build quickly, that a shared lab is a 'visible line item', and the dek's claim that the FAQ 'leaves open' the hackathons, which rests only on a truncated excerpt.","resolved","general",[32,33,34,35],"microsoft","the-garage","hackathon","workplace",[37],{"name":38,"url":39},"The Verge","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002Ftech\u002F1016389\u002Fmicrosoft-garage-closure-hackathon-notepad",0,{"sections":42},[43,48,53,58,63,68,73,78,83,88,93,96,101,106],{"name":44,"slug":45,"count":46,"latest_published_at":47},"AI","ai",7064,"2026-10-22T18:00:00.000Z",{"name":49,"slug":50,"count":51,"latest_published_at":52},"Security","security",1050,"2026-10-22T15:11:26.000Z",{"name":54,"slug":55,"count":56,"latest_published_at":57},"Policy","policy",571,"2026-10-22T16:00:29.000Z",{"name":59,"slug":60,"count":61,"latest_published_at":62},"Deals","deals",558,"2026-10-22T13:00:00.000Z",{"name":64,"slug":65,"count":66,"latest_published_at":67},"Hardware","hardware",288,"2026-10-22T17:25:00.000Z",{"name":69,"slug":70,"count":71,"latest_published_at":72},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",282,"2026-10-22T17:42:52.000Z",{"name":74,"slug":75,"count":76,"latest_published_at":77},"Science","science",215,"2026-10-22T16:37:00.000Z",{"name":79,"slug":80,"count":81,"latest_published_at":82},"Startups","startups",142,"2026-10-22T16:05:08.000Z",{"name":84,"slug":85,"count":86,"latest_published_at":87},"Software","software",140,"2026-10-22T18:01:29.000Z",{"name":89,"slug":90,"count":91,"latest_published_at":92},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",122,"2026-10-21T16:00:00.000Z",{"name":94,"slug":30,"count":95,"latest_published_at":18},"General",96,{"name":97,"slug":98,"count":99,"latest_published_at":100},"Gaming","gaming",86,"2026-10-22T13:17:59.000Z",{"name":102,"slug":103,"count":104,"latest_published_at":105},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":107,"slug":108,"count":109,"latest_published_at":110},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]