1200 x1024 on a 17" LCD, 1200x 1024 on a 21" CRT.

About the web site tools: GoLive is excellent (my copy is three revs old, though), but I recommend getting started with something free, like NVU (Google it for their web site). It's WYSIWIG, Dreamweaver-like I'm told.

The best books I've encountered on CSS are Eric Meyer's lab book CSS Web Site Design Hands on Training, Molly Holzschlag's Spring into HTML and CSS, Liz Castro's Peachpit book on HTML and CSS, and CSS: The Missing Manual.

All four preach the same basic message: Start with CSS and you won't regret it. I'm in the process of updating a web site with pages up to ten years old, all built with devilishly clever tables and even (shudder) frames. The alternative build is simple, using CSS floats, but fixing the old stuff is like putting a Porsche engine in a Honda. Holzschlag and Castro are the most readable, Missing Manual the most comprehensive, and Meyer the best for fast and accurate, if you can keep up with him.

Fluid vs Fixed is not a good guys/bad guys thing. There are great arguments on both sides. If you know what size your readers are most comfortable with, fixed in that size is fine. If you go fluid, you run the risk of having the usability of the site hampered by small/large windows. Text should not extend more than 60-70 characters, or less than 20. And your graphics should be the size they should be, not the size the MSPorthole allows. My prejudice: I loathe pure fluid, mainly because it is implemented ineptly. Done right, fluid requires minimum and maximum settings, complex interactions of DIVs, SPANs, images and fonts, and a mixture of width types: very complicated, and barely worth the trouble unless you have something to prove.

According my two months of Google analytics, by the way, only 10% of my visitors (and I am not a high tech or art site) are dialup, and less than 10% have 800x600 or less. If you are selling then that 10% is a market share to keep. Otherwise, I'd go (as I have) with the size comfortable to the 90%. After all, the 800x600 folks can always scroll a bit; it's not like they are shut out.

M