You don't use "CSS tables" for layout with CSS. You don't use tables at all [for layout -- ed.]. The whole point is that tables are for tabular data, not for layout. With proper CSS, you define the structure of the document, using all the tags that HTML gives. Once the document is nicely structured, using CSS to arrange the layout and style is usually straightforward, and can be downright fun. Compared to using extensive tables, spacer gifs, etc to "trick" browsers into cooperating, good CSS is a dream.