I did whiteboard coding for my interview at Microsoft. And, I liked the whiteboard experience more than for example pre-screen interviews I had at other companies that are done in a shared document (not a real IDE). Those I find really awkward. Mostly because I cannot see the other person, and then I feel I have to talk when I actually think and so on. For that reason, I like solving problems on a whiteboard more. Purely, because you are in the same room as the other person and it feels more connected. And it can also be nice to have a way to "visually" discuss a problem. Coding on a whiteboard is obviously strange as it happens in a totally different environment as normal. Still, I think the most important aspect is the interviewer. In general, I am very stressed at interviews. And if there isn't a good vibe between the interviewer and me, I feel the interview is doomed anyway. I prefer interviews where the tasks I have to solve are similar to my day-to-day work and they test for the skillset I will need. I imagine the best interview to be just working alongside the interviewer solving real problems together (although I haven't ever been interviewed that way, so maybe it would be horrible ;-) )