Different and preposition

Dear Dr English

Which preposition comes after different; than or from? I sometimes find "different than" used in text, but not often. I am not sure if it gives the same meaning as "different from".

Different can be followed with many prepositions including than, from, between and to.

When we want to say that one thing is unlike another, we say that it is different from/to/than the other; Americans tend to use different from or different than.

My new kitten is different from/to/than my old one.

What Nick is doing now is different from/to/than what his father expected him to.

But when you compare the difference of two types of something you use between.

What is the difference between a monkey and an ape?

Our major concern is the difference between the blood groups of the two volunteers.

You can say difference in when comparing the details of one specific matter.

Both puppies are from the same litter but do you notice the difference in size?

One can notice the difference in quality between a cheap stereo set and a more expensive one.