Microsoft Looks Mighty

"We still think consumer [sales] will grow faster than business, but it's a very good story on the client side," Liddell said.

The preference for premium software carries over to the server division, too, where premium enterprise editions of Windows Server grew 35%. The business division is expected to grow 31% to 32% in the current quarter, Liddell said.

That kind of server software growth is good news ahead of the release of the final version of Windows Server 2008, due out early next year. A pre-release version has been downloaded more than a million times since it came out just more than a month ago, indicating a high level of interest in it, Healy said.

Even with Halo 3 going gangbusters, entertainment and devices division revenue will be "flat to down," for the current quarter.

"Our performance is going to continue, but not at the same rate," Liddell said, wrapping things up.

"We expect EPS to grow very fast as well." Already growing faster than 20% this year, the bottom line will continue to benefit from operating margin expansion and share buybacks, Liddell added.

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