"At this point it appears Microsoft has put Vista behind it," said Allan Krans, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "People may not have been happy with it, but there were limited choices. For consumers, Vista was the default, and for businesses, they may have delayed buying new machines, but they will still pay Microsoft at some point."

Microsoft's financial performance for its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 31, and the fueling of its earnings by , makes his point that the company's survived the dark days of Vista, Krans continued. "The best case scenario for Microsoft was to retain its leadership position, and results indicate it's done just that," he said. "It speaks to the power of the market for Windows."

On Thursday, of $4.01 billion, up 35% over the same period the year before, on revenue of $14.5 billion, up 6%.

Windows 7 sales drove the increase, said Peter Klein, chief financial officer for the company. "Strong demand for Windows 7 is a primary contributor to our performance," Klein said during a conference call with Wall Street analysts Thursday afternoon.

Sales of Windows to consumers were especially brisk, with unit numbers up 35% year-over-year, while business licenses were up over 15%. Klein called Windows 7 Microsoft's "fastest-selling operating system ever," and claimed that 10% of the world's PCs are running the new OS.