Just so you know, Google, one of the most successful sites on the Internet, uses layout tables, and so does HN for that matter. I also use tables, and I've visited popular, funded, and cutting edge TechCrunch50 websites with over 100 errors in their markup while my code passes xhtml strict with 0 errors.

If you actually look at what I use tables for, it's:

1) Laying out the calendar (programmatically generated)

2) Having an element with a working 'vertical-align' CSS property

3) The layout of the form on the initial page.

Everything else is done with CSS. Except for 3, which was because I was running out of time, I don't see how getting rid of the <table> tags helps things. I hope you don't want me to encode the positions of all the calendar dates in the CSS file.

When evaluating product/business decisions I use what I call the live-or-die criteria. Will my company (or product, in this case) live or die by this decision?

If not, move on to something more important.

HTML tables vs. CSS is one of those decisions that really doesn't matter. No product has ever failed because they used HTML tables, so why worry about it? Use whichever helps you get the job done faster.

Hehe...ever looked at the HN HTML?