It has been a busy quarter for Microsoft. The company released the newest edition of its operating system for servers, Microsoft Server 2012, in September. In July it released a preview of the next version of its office productivity suite, Microsoft Office 2013. Most importantly, next week Microsoft will launch its next-generation operating system, Windows 8, which was designed to work on both traditional computers as well as on tablet devices, including the company's own Surface tablet.

For the quarter, the Windows division posted revenue of $3.24 billion, a 33 percent decrease from the same period of the prior year.

The Server and Tools business generated $4.55 billion, an 8 percent increase from the same quarter in the prior year. SQL Server and System Center in particular were strong sellers. The Microsoft Business Division generated $5.50 billion in first-quarter revenue, a 2 percent decrease from the prior year period. It too was affected by pre-sales deferrals, as the company deferred reporting revenue of Microsoft Office 2013. The company noted that some products in this division, such as SharePoint and Exchange, drove double-digit revenue growth.

Online Services enjoyed a 9 percent increase in revenue, to $697 million, thanks to ad revenue in search. The Entertainment and Devices Division, which manages the company's Xbox gaming and multimedia console, posted revenue of $1.95 billion, a decrease of 1 percent from the same period in the prior year.