It's a point that other Microsoft women chime in on. "You have to be aggressive, proactive, direct, in-your-face, get the job done and feel free to yell and be yelled at," says Sabina Nawaz, who came to Microsoft from Smith College by way of the University of Massachusetts. Adds Libby Dunkin, "You have to learn to get an edge on, get to the point very fast, and understand quickly."

In fact, the most fundamental fact of life about Microsoft's women nerds may be that they are as much nerds as they are women. The female nerd, like her male counterpart, exhibits all the classic traits of archetypal young American software developers: a uniform tendency to talk rapidly in short, clipped sentences; to stare at some vague spot in the center of the table or on the floor when talking with you; and to manifest a repetoire of facial tics, random grooming habits, and bad manners. Spend a few minutes with one, and you realize that what you had assumed was a function of male arrested development has nothing to do with sex. It has everything to do with software engineers, male and female.

What that suggests is that Microsoft, by making itself hospitable to talented, focused women, has secured another valuable monopoly -- one the Department of Justice would probably applaud: a monopoly on a significant part of available software talent at a time when talent is terribly scarce and ultimately determinative of competitive success. Any competing company that sets out to recruit digital women will discover that much of the best available female talent has already been signed by Microsoft -- and made to feel welcome there.

At this point, Microsoft, sensing an advantage, is not about to relax. "I met with HR a couple of weeks ago," says Sabina Nawaz. "They were asking me what else they could do in recruiting and campus advertising to help sell Microsoft as a good place for women. They want to get even more of the limited pool that's out there."

Fred Moody writes on technology, social change, and rock 'n' roll for "The Seattle Weekly." A long-time observer of Microsoft, he is author of "I Sing the Body Electronic" (Viking, 1995), a behind-the-scenes look at the development of Microsoft's Encarta Encylopedia.

Sidebar: The Matron Saint

If Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper were alive today, she'd probably be a software engineer at Microsoft. According to an obituary published after her death in 1992, Hopper "never suffered fools or bureaucracy gladly, preferring straight talk, a steady diet of unfiltered cigarettes and a can-do attitude."

During her 43-year Navy career Hopper earned recognition as a computing pioneer who contributed to the creation and acceptance of high-level languages and assisted in developing the Mark I, the first large-scale digital computer. She also coined the term "bug" to describe mysterious program malfunctions -- after a two-inch moth fouled up one of the Mark I's circuits.

In 1990, when the female engineers at Microsoft were looking for a matron saint, they embraced Grace Hopper as their icon, and formed a group in her name. Hoppers helps its members advance in a number of ways: it holds discussion and study groups on a variety of technical subjects; identifies emerging Microsoft technologies; schools Microsoft women on the ins and outs of performance reviews at the company; and counsels women on sexual harassment.

While the group continues to have meetings, much of its business is conducted online. It operates through three e-mail aliases: Hoppers, through which it conducts ongoing conversations on topics of interest to its members; Hopanon, to which women can submit anonymous postings and get advice on problems from other members; and Hoppals, through which sympathetic men can lend support.

At its founding, Hoppers saw itself as an organization for disaffected women, standing in opposition to the policies and general management approach of the company. A short six years later, Hoppers has become a virtual partner with management on most issues. Microsoft now funds some Hoppers events, provides the group with computer hardware and company server space, and contributes money to its scholarship fund for promising young women in computer science.

Despite its general support for Hoppers, Microsoft has clearly drawn the line on certain Hoppers issues -- for example, refusing to provide on-site and after-hours day care. Indeed, Microsoft Human Resources is so opposed to day care that Director Mike Murray even suggests that implementing it would likely cause the Death of Microsoft: "We have a great sense of urgency in what we're doing. So we're not going to suddenly say, 'Oh, we need to be family-friendly,' and end up making program additions to the company, the net effect of which would kill Microsoft."