They expect some revenue to be deferred to the December quarter, or later, because of Microsoft's Windows 7 Technology Guarantee Program, which allows people to purchase PCs now with the right to upgrade to Windows 7 when it becomes available. Microsoft can't report that Windows 7 revenue until the upgrade occurs, which will be at least after the software's Oct. 22 availability date.

Still, even the deferred revenue is not expected to drag down Microsoft's results, analysts said.

Bing, meanwhile, could potentially give a boost to Microsoft's online services business, which has been flat or losing money for the past several years. Bing has received positive early reviews and taken some market share away from Yahoo in the less than two months since it was released, according to results from comScore and StatCounter.

Bing showed good initial traction with an 8.4 percent share of the U.S. search market, wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar in a research note. "With this, Microsoft has reversed the trend of market share loss that it has been experiencing in search, which we view as constructive and expect the company to build on," she wrote.

Analysts more broadly are looking at tech company results this quarter for signs that the industry is recovering from the beating wrought by the recession.