On Wednesday, Microsoft announced earnings for its second quarter, which ended on December 31, 2017. Brad has already covered the news over on Petri. Here, I'd like to dive a bit deeper and analyze what the results mean for the software giant's core businesses.

Note: As you may know, I normally provide my "morning after" overview of Microsoft's quarterly earnings in Paul Thurrott's Short Takes, an often-humorous set of blurbs that appears on Fridays on Petri. But doing so was just a matter of timing: With Microsoft normally issuing its earning announcements on a Thursday, it made sense to provide more depth the following morning. But as Brad recommended to me last night, moving this coverage to Thurrott.com and making it a Premium article makes more sense. That will allow me to continue with the usual frivolity in Short Takes on Friday.