Microsoft's new businesses shine, but PC software still sags

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft may still be suffering from lagging sales of personal computers, but the tech giant has taken some cues from rivals like Apple and Google — and it's now seeing substantial growth in more promising lines of business ranging from mobile apps and advertising to online games and cloud computing.

Investors drove the company's stock price up more than 8 percent in late trading Thursday, after Microsoft issued an earnings report that showed evidence of that transition.

Licensing payments from PC makers were down 6 percent, a fifth straight quarter of decline, a sign that the July launch of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system failed to spark an immediate revival in sales.

Microsoft also reported hefty increases in the number of people paying for the Xbox Live online gaming service and for Office 365, the subscription version of its popular email, document-editing and other "productivity" programs.

Rather than charge individual PC owners to upgrade their older versions of Windows, for example, Microsoft has been offering free upgrades to Windows 10 — much the way Apple and Google provide free updates to their operating systems for Macs, iPhones and Android devices.

Nadella told analysts Thursday that Bing's advertising growth got a boost because Windows 10 lets PC users ask questions of Cortana, Microsoft's voice-enabled digital assistant, which provides answers from Bing.