Windows 8.1 Picks up Steam

A little more than a year after Windows 8.1 was made available, the update to Microsoft's PC operating system is finally seeing some progress. The market share of PCs that run Windows 8.1 jumped to 10.9 percent in October, up from 6.7 percent in September and 7.1 percent in August, according to Net Applications, which tracks activity through analyzing the browser hits of specific websites.

The share-gains suggest a small bit of momentum as Microsoft seeks to upgrade all users to the latest version of its marquee Windows operating system. Though consumers didn't respond to Windows 8, which was the first to emphasize tiles as part of its user interface, the company has added back features with 8.1. In August, it added small touches like a Shutdown button on the Start screen and the ability to run modern apps from the desktop.