by , 8:35 AM EDT, October 2nd, 2008

Apple's Safari Web browser continued to grab marketshare in September, inching up to 6.65 percent from August's 6.37 percent. In comparison, Microsoft's Internet Explorer continued its downward trend to drop below 72 percent for the first time, according to data from Market Share.

The Windows-only Internet Explorer started September with 72.15 percent of the Web browser marketshare, but dipped down to 71.52 percent by the end of the month. Microsoft's browser had been steadily losing market share for months on end.

Firefox, however, reversed its upward trend slightly to dip from 19.75 percent down to 19.46 percent. Considering variations in Web browsing habits and data tracking, the cross-platform browser likely maintained its position compared to August.

Safari and Firefox have been on an upward swing for months as interest in both browsers continues to grow. In comparison, Internet Explorer has been losing market share to both for well over a year, which is likley an indication that many Windows users are hunting for alternatives to Microsoft's market dominating Web browser.

Google's Windows-only Chrome Web browser made its debute in September, and managed to carve out its own little niche on the stats chart with 0.78 percent of the marketshare. Since the newcomer only has a few weeks under its belt, there's no way to know yet if it will have a significant impact on the other browsers that are already established in the marketplace.

While the statistics are handy for getting snapshot overviews of a particular Web browser's popularity, looking at the numbers over time offers a better impression of overall popularity. In this case, the numbers seem to indicate a growing interest in Safari and Firefox at the expense of Internet Explorer.