Microsoft Posts Great Windows 7 Earnings; Mobile, Search Suffering

Following its perennial rival Apple's announcement of a terrific quarter, Microsoft had some good news of its own. At 5:30 p.m. E.D.T. Thursday evening, Frank Brod, Microsoft's chief accounting officer, and Bill Koefoed, general manager of Investor Relations at Microsoft, announced earning information for Microsoft's quarter ending March 31.

The news was impressive. Microsoft's fiscal third-quarter revenue totaled $14.50B USD, up 6 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Factoring in the deferral of $305 million of revenue relating to the Microsoft Office 2010 Technology Guarantee program, the revenue totaled $14.81B USD, a rise of 8 percent.