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Exactly.

If there is no white 1x1 pixel that is stretched in an attempt to make something that resembles actual layout, or multiple weird tables, I always ask: are they even trying.

In all seriousness- they got quite a good run with xslt. Time to let it rest.

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1x1 pixels for padding and aligning? That came later. Your memory is off.

In the 90s, sites did kinda look like that.

1x1 pixels for padding and aligning were absolutely a thing in the late 90s (1997+). Don't know what alternative history you have in mind, but it was used at the "table layout" era.

What came later was the float layout hell- sorry, "solution".

The 1x1 pixel gif hack arrived shortly after Netscape 1.1 introduced tables. I belive this was before colored text and tiled backgrounds became available. So the hack is definitely part of the “golden age” of web design.

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