One thing that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is that when you have a full width skin, and the user doesn't like how it looks because of their high resolution monitor, what is to stop the user from just resizing their window?  If they are on really high resolution they are probably not keeping all their windows maximized, but rather giving themselves space to see several windows at one time.

The cool thing about a fluid design is that you leave it up to the user to decide.  Just because you as a designer like it to look a particular way doesn't mean that will please all your users. 

The other thing that goes along with this discussion is accessability. If you use em units instead of pixels, you will greatly increase the ability for any end user to make it look best for them.

I say make it fluid, and that way the user can decide how they want to view it.

"POWER TO THE USER"

I have heard it all now.

Pro fixed skin designer will argue that the skin should be delivered to the end user so it has a particular look and feel on all browsers. He/She designs it so that every component in the skin is carefully arranged to deliver the maximum impact on the end user.

(The term “Fluid “is a phrase that does not describes the chaos that 100% skin delivers - but then I am not English –I guess it does sound cool  to call a chaotic page “Fluid”)

100% skin only give power to the user to mess the page layout up. Alternatively you give power to the user to spend a significant time to resize the window so just to try and guess what the designer/content editor had in mind when the page was made?

I would have thought that the most of the fortune 1000 sites out there have a good reason to make their skin fixed width. They cannot all be ignorant about design? Not with the design funding that they have. If they did want to give REAL power to the people - I am sure they would have given them choice of look and feel. Another 80s kind of fashion to allow the end user to change colours and so on. It used to be really cool to allow the end user to make the page Yelow just because they like that colour. not that there was any Web in the 80s - but you know what I mean.

I stop now even though I could go on for a long time. I have created many 100% skins as some clients want it and no matter what I say will not change their mind.
I stop the rant now

Salar