Microsoft quarter 'a blow out'

Microsoft's first quarter revenues jumped 27 per cent to $7.75 billion, and profits more than doubled to $2.73 billion, in spite of a write-off of $291 million against weak investments.The earnings boost came from "higher-than-expected enrollment in new, subscription-like licensing plans" that aroused widely-reported hostility from some customers, and blockbuster sales of Windows XP, which has sold 67 million copies. XP Home is more expensive than Windows Me, though much cheaper than earlier versions of Windows NT. Sales of Windows server software also grew by 14%. The main drawback with these results is that they are unlikely to be repeated. Microsoft put another $2 billion in the bank, taking its cash pile to $40.5 billion.