It was only a few years ago that “Microsoft” and “games” seemed the unlikeliest of pairings. The OS provider and software giant was firmly entrenched in the business space. Yet the terms now happily co-exist in the company’s quarterly report. And they could get much cozier, says Erik Sherman on bNet.

Despite the decline in popularity of the Windows operating system and the rise of smartphones, which has been “eating Windows,” Microsoft has grown share levels by more than 13 percent. This is due in large part to diversification, says Sherman. A revenue chart shows that the company’s move into the gaming space, with Xbox and Kinect, has been a smart one. And even though Apple has now taken the top spot as tech revenue earner, Microsoft’s focus on Office, a deal with Nokia, and the growth of Bing, means tech’s elder statesman is still in the game. Read more from bNet ^[1].