Microsoft profit up slightly on strong commercial sales

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Thursday fiscal second-quarter profit rose 3 percent, as strong sales of its Office software to businesses offset another weak quarter for its flagship Windows system, and as consumers increasingly favor tablets over personal computers.

The world's largest software company reported a profit of $6.56 billion, or 78 cents per share, compared with $6.38 billion, or 76 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Richard Chang)