Microsoft surprised analysts and investors on October 24 when it posted a 17 percent increase in profits over the past three months. The profits come at a time of transition for the tech giant which recently reorganized itself as a “devices and services” company with two groups; one focusing on devices and consumer products and the other on commercial products.
Microsoft in Transition Photogallery
![A 13-month-old chimp named Fumo carries a Christmas present of food treats in wrapping paper under his arm during a Christmas-themed feeding time at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, Australia.](https://gdb.voanews.com/17763EDE-A82C-4814-BBDA-548520962E3F_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A 13-month-old chimp named Fumo carries a Christmas present of food treats in wrapping paper under his arm during a Christmas-themed feeding time at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, Australia.
![A worker packs the shelves of the computer shop PC World, at Croydon in south London, Aug. 23, 1995, with copies of the Microsoft Windows 95 computer package.](https://gdb.voanews.com/000F1F8D-5C26-47B2-A80A-E40BBE415B3A_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A worker packs the shelves of the computer shop PC World, at Croydon in south London, Aug. 23, 1995, with copies of the Microsoft Windows 95 computer package.
![A 13-month-old chimp named Fumo carries a Christmas present of food treats in wrapping paper under his arm during a Christmas-themed feeding time at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, Australia.](https://gdb.voanews.com/B961165C-3EAC-45D7-A37A-6C054894FB6E_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A 13-month-old chimp named Fumo carries a Christmas present of food treats in wrapping paper under his arm during a Christmas-themed feeding time at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, Australia.
![Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer holds a placard checklist for the new Microsoft Office XP at a release party for the software on March 2, 2001, on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington.](https://gdb.voanews.com/86C0B483-D8F8-423B-BAB2-FC45E0A71EC5_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer holds a placard checklist for the new Microsoft Office XP at a release party for the software on March 2, 2001, on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington.