Microsoft's Windows operating system last month took its biggest market share dive in years, according to some new Net Applications statistics, with the number of Windows users surfing the web falling below 90 percent. Specifically, Windows secured 89.6% of the global PC market in November, down from 92.4% a year before, 94.2% in November 2006, and 96.4% in October 2004.

This is still quite an enviable position for any company, but it's believed to be the first time Windows market share has dipped below 90 percent since the mid-1990s, when Windows 3.1 ruled the Microsoft roost. Apple's Mac OS X, meanwhile, posted its biggest gain in a two-year period, growing by 0.66 percentage point to end the month at 8.9%. Linux also gained ground but Net Applications' numbers still pin it under the 1% threshold at 0.83%.