As a Microsoft employee, I assure you that the problem here is not that Microsoft criticism is unpopular on HN. That is just hilarious. I can't even think of a thing that's more popular to bash on HN than Microsoft.
As I said, it contributes to the discussion to actually comment, rather than cast votes.
I.e. if you disagree with some statement - say so, and explain why. That would be meaningful.
> the problem here is not that Microsoft criticism is unpopular on HN
That depends. According to my observation, a lot of times downvotes happen because of disagreement, even though they supposedly should indicate something else.
