Oh one of my favorite topics is the resolution debates about tossing 800x600 to the wayside and formerly adopting 1024.
Jon Hicks posted his two cents and another slant on the debate, which was what about all the users out there that don't run their browsers full screen, people running at 1024+ but leave their browsers at a smaller size in order to view more on their monitors and use other tools?
I hadn't thought about that angle, but he has a good point. I think it is a definite consideration.
I stand by fluid design that looks good at 1024 and scales down very nicely to 800x600. No site should sit boxed up in the corner of the browser showing gobs of white space. Fluid sites are the ticket IMHO.