A browser which makes use of a high-resolution screen?

This is something that makes more sense if you use a Mac; it's kind of the default behavior. But don't use the screen for just one window - put your browser in one spot, IM next to it, text editor next to that, and so on and so forth (depending on what programs you use).

I think the basic point is that "something's gotta give". I would rather that be aesthetics than useability. Ooh! Ooh! I know someone who's never had to develop a website for a client!! :-) Seriously, I don't know who these lucky bastards are who manage to convince their clients that low-graphics, useable websites are the way to go, but no matter how clearly or vehemently I express it, every client I've had wants their logos larger, the websites constrained to a specific size, and would rather a website looks good to them than have the website look okay for everybody.

Deathalicious; I'm sure most web developers see where tabelum is coming from; we're just more acutely aware of the reality of current web design limitations. Limitations like raster graphics, for example. There is no solution to pixel-based design limitations, because there is no standard way to include vector graphics in a website. Opera's Zoom feature is nice and all, but I bet rounded corners on CSS boxes start to look more and more like the little staircases of pixels that they actually are. In a vector-based web, this wouldn't need to happen - opera could truly resize the graphics and the page losslessly. Unfortunately, reality isn't there yet.

PS Ask mefi is a pretty reasonable site: it uses the whole screen and if I just increase the text size, I can make it big enough to read without messing up the whole interface. But look at, for example, cnn.com on a monitor larger than 1024x768 and you'll see what I mean. Sites that fail are more common than sites that work.

I second that the "solution" is to stop using maximized windows. Make them 800 pixels wide and now you can fit two pages on the screen at a time. Or keep your MP3 player or IM client visible, etc.

I believe CTRL + mousewheel is the shortcut to the zoom function in Opera.

Thanks for the further comments. I'm not an expert on web design; I was on top of it maybe seven years ago, but things have come a long way since then. To answer your question odinsdream, my suggestions would be (1) don't match a column to the size of a logo; have it match at 1024x768 (the most common resolution) and determine column width based on window size, so the logo will just look a bit too small at higher resolutions; (2) specify the rounded corners in pixels for 1024x768, and accept that users at different resolutions won't see quite what you intended. I think the basic point is that "something's gotta give". I would rather that be aesthetics than useability. Anyway, I'm now using Opera with 150% zoom, and I'm happy with the results so far. Thanks again for all the helpful information.

Could I ask what you'd like web developers to do instead of specify attribute dimensions in pixels? It may not be the most flexible thing, but what's the alternative? I already specify all my text sizing in EMs, so user's browsers control the relative text size, but if I have to match a column to the size of a logo, or create a box with rounded corners, what choice is there but to size in pixels? Until web developers can use vector graphics natively in browsers, there's little choice but to use pixels. I'm open to suggestions - though, if there's a better way.

IE7 has a similar zoom feature built in, and there's a Firefox extension to enable that type of zooming, I believe.