PC users have continued to warm up to Windows 8, while Internet Explorer has experienced a sudden upturn, according to the latest data.
Research from Net Applications credited Windows 8 with 8.02% of web traffic from desktop computers in September.
That's up from 7.4% in August, and 5.4% the month before.
Meanwhile Windows XP continues to lose users, now falling to 31.4% (down from 37.1% back in July), and Windows 7 remains on top with a very slight increase to 46.4%.
The rise and fall and rise of IE
Internet Explorer has become the butt of countless geeky jokes over the last several years, but it looks like Microsoft's browser is actually on the uptake.
Page view data from StatCounter shows that Internet Explorer continues to rise in popularity, backing up data from Net Applications that shows that IE was getting more daily use from individuals.
StatCounter's stats indicate that Internet Explorer page views increased from 25.6% to 28.6% from August to September, while Net Applications' data shows IE growing a mere .2 percentage points to 57.8% of individuals' use.
Net Applications puts Internet Explorer on top globally, while StatCounter claims it's in second place to Chrome.
The differences in how the two research firms collected data - individuals users vs page views - could account for the disparities in their findings, though both found that IE is on the up.
Either way the reasons behind the uptick aren't exactly clear, though it may well be that Microsoft's various marketing efforts are paying off. IE is being revamped currently, which could have more users interested.
Agree to disagree
In related desktop OS news, Net Applications claimed that adoption of Windows 8.1, which is still in preview mode, was up to .87% in September.
Meanwhile iOS is currently the most-used mobile OS, according to the firm, with 53.6% - down from over 63% a year ago, but still on top. Android is on the rise, on the other hand, peaking at 29.4% last month.
In mobile browser usage, Net Applications' and StatCounters' methods differ even further - the former counts tablets in its mobile figures, while the latter only counts phones. That created more disparities in their findings, though both agree that mobile Chrome is on the rise.
What they can't agree on is which mobile browser is actually on top; Net Applications says Safari, while StatCounter says the Android browser.
