Xbox Gift From Microsoft?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft(MSFT Quote) is expected to deliver a "gnarly" second-quarter earnings report after Thursday's closing bell.

Gnarly, not in surfer-dude speak, but in the sense that comparisons with year-ago results may seem tangled and difficult to decipher. In the second quarter of last year, a significant chunk of software revenue was deferred to the third quarter of 2007, according to Matt Rosoff, analyst with Directions on Microsoft.

For example, in last year's second quarter the company reported $140 million more in deferred sales of Windows Vista and Office software than it had expected.

Microsoft will likely report adjusted figures as well as traditional comparisons with the second quarter of 2007, Rosoff said. "It's a complicated year of earnings. It'll be gnarly." ...