Microsoft Treats Traders

Despite a good deal of negative sentiment concerning the performance of the computer industry so far this year, Microsoft's most PC-dependent business unit did well. The company's Client group, which sells Windows, grew 12% year over year, and Microsoft said the PC market grew by 11% to 12%. The Information Worker group, which sells Office, did less well, growing by only 6.4%.

Led by the SQL Server 2005, which launched to good reviews some 18 months ago, the Server group grew by a strong 18%.

Microsoft Business Solutions, which includes the company's Dynamics products, turned its first-ever profit: $38 million on sales of $280 million, up from $242 million. But the company's troubled MSN unit actually shrank by about 3% in sales to $580 million and lost $190 million.

The Home and Entertainment group, responsible for the Xbox 360, grew revenue strongly, to $1.14 billion from $587 million the year before. But the unit also doubled its loss to $414 million.