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Don’t be shocked if one or more shrines to Windows 7 are erected in Redmond today.  Microsoft released its quarterly earnings report this afternoon, and thanks in large part to the new operating system, the company’s numbers look quite good.

Analysts thought Microsoft might report something like $17.84 billion in revenue and earnings per share of 59 cents.  Microsoft overshot those forecasts by a significant amount, posting $19.12 billion and 74 cents, instead.

That puts the company up 14 percent and 57 percent, respectively, on a year-over-year basis.  And it would be an understatement to say that victories of this nature don’t occur every day, particularly given our economy’s current condition.

So if you’re happy (and as you’ll see in a minute, investors are), think well of Windows 7.  A record for Windows units was set last quarter, and Peter Klein, Microsoft’s CFO, said in a statement, “Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company.  Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth.”

Unfortunately for Microsoft, things didn’t go so well in every respect.  The Online Services Business lost a whopping $466 million, which makes for a significantly worse performance than last year (when it lost $320 million).

Then, one other possible cause for skittishness is the fact Microsoft hasn’t yet given any guidance.  Windows 7 can’t sell well forever, after all.

Still, investors have received Microsoft’s news with open arms and fists full of dollars.  Even though the Dow and Nasdaq both sank today (by 1.13 percent and 1.91 percent), Microsoft’s stock is up 1.47 percent in after-hours trading.

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Award winning BBC comedy personality, Peter Serafinowicz, has released a video in which he shows the “latest revolution from Apple, the iPad”.

What did you think of the video? Let us know.

I’m sure by now you’ve figured out this isn’t the real iPad… well I guess it could be as this one doesn’t feature a camera either. This spoof of Apple’s announcement is from Funny or Die’s UK site. Serafinowicz seems to be both poking fun at Steve Jobs and the following video, which is the official one from Apple’s site.

Do you think the initial comedic value of the iPad will die down anytime soon? Tell us what you think.

Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco today to announce what he referred to as a “magical, truly revolutionary product.”

After talking up Apple’s history and how many iPods they’ve sold and apps they have in the app store, Jobs began talking about the need for a product between the laptop and the smartphone - something that would be better at things like browsing, email, photos, video, music, games, and eBooks. He took a shot at netbooks saying they weren’t better than anything (knocking their speed, displays, and software), and then unveiled the iPad.

It looks generally like a taller, wider version of the iPhone. It can be turned anyway to view a page. He showed off what the New York Times looked like on it. It almost looks like a full-color newspaper.

The keyboard displays on the touch screen. The iTunes store is bult in, and has a screen ideal for watching movies. It will run all iPhone apps and have its own. There is a new software developer kit available.

Specs:

- Dimensions: .5 inches thin, 1.5 pounds — 9.7 inch IPS display 

- The device has 10 hours of battery life according to Jobs. (one month stand-by time)

- 1GHz Apple A4 chip, stockage flash 16-64GB , Wifi 802.11n, bluetooth

- Accelerometer & Compass, Speaker, Microphone, 30-pin conect

- Use GSM microSIMs

The iPad syncs over USB like the iPhone/iPod. Every iPad has Wi-Fi, but some models will have 3G. Data plans: one plan 250MB of data a month for $14.99 and unlimited for $29.99 a month (free use of AT&T hot spots). There’s no contract. It’s pre-paid, and you can activate it right from the device. Jobs says they’re hoping for international deals to be in place in the summer.

Pricing starts at $499. That’s for the 16GB version. The 32GB and 64GB versions are $599 and $699 respectively.

Apple will be shipping the device in 60 days. 3G models will ship in 90.

It’s amazing how much criticism the iPad is facing on Twitter even before the announcement is over. A lot of people are making jokes about the name (and maxi pad commercials).

The full press release is now available here.

Sidenote: There’s already a dashboard widget for Mac OS X on Apple’s site called the iPad.