The Misleading 1024×768
I never liked screen web user resolution statistics. I tend to believe this data is meaningless: I have a 1024x768 screen, but my browser window is current 773 pixels width. I always keep myself some space on my screen for other things and I rarely browse the web full-screen. But regardless of that, screen resolution web statistics would make you think I’d be best served with a wider web page.
So when you design your new website, please take into account that an unspecified number of people visit your site with a screen resolution wider than the browser window, like me, and that they may not like it if you force them to enlarge the window each time they visit your site.
And if you’re interested in useful statistics, you could also use a package that can track window width instead of screen resolution alone. That could be Mint with the Window Width pepper for example.