Steve Ballmer is set to step down soon as the CEO of Microsoft and before he leaves behind a legacy of mixed fortunes, he'll be happy to know that Windows 8.1 has beaten Apple's new OS X Mavericks in terms of adoption in November.

Windows 8.1, Microsoft's response to the negative uproar triggered by the launch of Windows 8, controlled 2.64 percent of the global market share of desktop operating systems, while OS Mavericks trailed at 2.42 percent, according to the latest stats released by web tracker Net Applications. The Windows 8.1, which sees the return of the familiar Start button, and the OS X Mavericks, are both being offered as free upgrades.

Windows 7 dominated the market with 46.64 percent, followed by the venerable Windows XP, which was launched in October 2001, at 31.22 percent. The much-maligned Windows Vista garnered 3.57 percent of the market share while Windows 8 performed relatively better at 6.66 percent.

Interestingly, it seems Windows 2000 and Windows NT are still alive and kicking with 0.03 and 0.09 percent market share respectively.

Net Applications also revealed that Microsoft's IE 8 was the most popular web browser in November, garnering 21.74 percent of the market share, followed by IE 10 (175 percent), Firefox 25 (10.43 percent), IE 9 (9.25 percent) and Google Chrome 31 (6.77 percent). Apple's Safari 7 browser trailed at No.10 spot with 1.73 percent market share.

Conclusion? Apple may be making more money than Microsoft but when it comes to OS and web browsers, Microsoft is still the king.