Microsoft's profits plummet

THE VOLE'S software giant's focus on its new operating system Vista has seriously damaged its last quarter profits.

Microsoft saw a 28 per cent drop in earnings over the last few months, despite revenue growth that exceeded forecasts.

Earnings fell to $2.63 billion from $3.65 billion during the same period last year. Wall Street bean counters were pleased that Vole's Revenue rose to $12.5 billion, but shareholders were not and the price of a share in Vole dropped 64 cents.

One of the reasons is that Vista and Office 2007, were delayed and do not hit the consumer market until next week.

Microsoft's Windows division, posted a 25 per cent drop in sales to $2.59 billion. And the business division, which includes Office, saw a five per cent drop to $3.51 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in a conference call that the figures were impressive for a company of its size.

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