The problem is the "weight" of the table tag.
A table implies tabular information, and devices like screen readers treat tables just like that.

Depending on the search engine, the search result might look crippled when using a table for design.

Another point is that you don't separate design from content anymore sicne you're using a table as design element.
Of course this is possible, but it's not clean, as when using divs and spans, they do not influence the display of the containing elements directly. The appearance and positioning is all done using CSS - there you have a clear separation between design and content.

Short:
Tables should be used for displaying tabular information, just as heading tags (h1, h2...) should be used for headlines instead of some oversized normal text.
Use the elements for what they were made for. Tables certainly were not made for doing layouts with them.

Apart from that I don't really think tables make things easier than divs, but I won't start a discussion on this one now. Find out yourself!


If I hired someone to do a website I would insist on proper CSS, without browser switches, without table layout, and of course it should validate at least XHMTL1.0 strict.
Everything else I consider as unprofessional Pfusch and not worth paying for.
For some private person it might be okay to use tables and do everything quick and dirty, but from someone offering website services I expect a certain professionality which includes following web standards.