The 29% jump it net profits at Microsoft Corp was fuelled by strong demand for its Microsoft Office and Backoffice suites, the company says. We saw the other day that software sales were dismal in Europe in the third quarter of last year (CI No 2,582), but that seems to be all behind us now – Microsoft says that sales were at record levels across all channels, with Europe increasing dramatically over the prior quarter. European sales, excluding those made directly to hardware manufacturers, accounted for 27% of its $1,480 sales for the fiscal second quarter, OEM sales accounted for 26% and sales in the US and Canada were 33%. But operating expenses rose to $740m or nearly 50% of sales, from $529m or 46.8% of sales a year earlier.
