I agree, for end user it doesn't matter tables vs CSS,
if the page loads correctly and in reasonable time.
BUT.... I agree there are several factors that you should consider:
- what browser do your customers use most often?
- does it matter for customers how page loads?
- does design really require usage of tables?
- do you plan to change your templates often?
- are there any technical limitations to your server?
From my experiences, these days I go 99% for tableless CSS design. And I very rarely come across a CSS layout problem that can't be solved. Besides, if you write good CSS code, the code degrades to clean plain HTML so even a half-loaded page is readable (what's can't be said about tables).
As one web designer said "tables are for eating"
Or for tabular data. Well, porn never cared about standards and never will. No one is forcing table nor CSS layouts on you. But I think advantages of CSS layouts prevail.
When someone switches from tables to CSS it's a disaster. It took me some time, but it's was worth it. Now being given task to fix table layouts with broken TR and TD tags and fixing it is REALLY horrifying.