Hit with a stock-option transfer program and higher payroll costs, Microsoft's server and tools business posted a hefty operating loss in the December quarter. The unit lost $204 million, as compared with a $234 million profit in the same quarter a year earlier, according to a quarterly report filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft's two other main units--the client business, which includes desktop versions of Windows, and the information worker unit, which includes Office sales--posted narrow improvements in their profits from a year ago.
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