From Jennifer Kyrnin,
Your Guide to Web Design / HTML.
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Web page resolution is a big deal. Depending upon where you go, you should design pages for the lowest common denominator (640x480), the most common (800x600), or the most cutting edge (1280x1024 or 1024x768). But the truth is, you should design your site for the customers who come to it.

Basic Resolution Facts

• 640x480 is not dead
  While 640x480 is not as required as it used to be, 640x480 is still around. Older computers, laptops with smaller screens, and people who need larger fonts do browse the Web. Even if you choose not to design your page to this resolution you should test your site at this resolution.
• 800x600 is not guaranteed
  Many Web site design guides recommend designing Web sites for 800x600 resolution. While this resolution is more common on the Web at large, this may not be the case for your customers. If you're planning on redesigning your Web site, take a few weeks to analyze your browser statistics to determine the most common resolutions used by your customers.
• 1024x768 and higher are still less common
  This resolution can be fairly hard to read for many people. A 14-inch flat panel monitor might support 1024x768, but the text is virtually unreadable. Also, many computers sold are set up with lower resolutions by default.

Resolution Items to Think About

• Not all users maximize
  If you determine that your customers browse at 1024x768, you may be building pages that require horizontal scrolling. Why? Because while they are browsing at that resolution, they don't maximize their browser window, so 800x600 might fit their window better.
• Don't forget the browser
  Browsers subtract as much as 50 pixels on the right and left, and 200 pixels on the top and bottom. So if you create a table that's 800 pixels wide, customers with maximized browsers on 800x600 resolution screens will have to scroll horizontally.

What to Do?

1. Determine who views your site
   Review your Web logs, or put up a poll or a script to determine what your readers actually use. Use the real-world browser size script to track your readers.
2. Base your redesign on your customers
   When you redesign your site, build it based on the facts of your Web site. Do not base it on statistics of "the Web" or other sites.
3. Test your site in various resolutions
   Either change your own screen size or use a testing site.
4. Don't expect your customers to change
   They won't. And placing restrictions on them just encourages them to leave.

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