"I didn't see any trends at the end of the quarter that would encourage me to think that we have hit the bottom," Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said. "We expect broadly the same trends in [fiscal] Q4 as we had with this Q3."

However, Matt Rosoff, an analyst with the independent firm Directions on Microsoft, predicts Windows and Office sales will pick up in the new fiscal year. He said that enterprises, motivated by the upcoming Windows 7 and Office 2010, will start re-signing their volume-license agreements.

Windows 7's expected release later this year will also likely result in a "pretty good bump up in retail upgrade sales" among consumers who are now holding onto Windows XP or using Vista, but who are eager to upgrade, Rosoff said.

"Windows Vista was received poorly enough and 7 is getting good enough reviews that I think there will be a lot of consumers doing in-place upgrades [to Windows 7]," he said.

Despite consistently poor reviews of Vista from its launch, Microsoft's revenues and profits for Windows did not start falling until late last year, as the recession and the rise of low-cost netbooks took their toll. During its Q2 earnings call, , the company's operating income for Windows and its Microsoft Business Division fell 13% and 2%, respectively.