Microsoft reports that its third-quarter profits are up over a third, largely due to stellar sales of Windows 7. It is estimated that one in ten computers now runs the operating system, which the company proclaims "by far the fastest-selling operating system in history."

The reception given to Windows 7 stands in stark contrast to that received by the troubled Vista, which businesses largely avoided. The Seattle-based software titan - which made $4bn on record sales of $14.5bn - also emphasised the "strong growth" in its Bing search engine and Xbox Live, which allows multiple online gamers to play against one another.

Chief operating officer Kevin Turner further highlighted the "tremendous interest" in its cloud services, which allow the storing of data and software on-line rather than on individual computers.