Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Live Space in the Browser Window

Knowing the size of the monitor is just the beginning. The operating system and the interface components of the browser itself (known as the browser chrome ) occupy a fair amount of screen space. The amount of space that is actually available within the browser window, (the browser canvas ), is dependent on the computer’s operating system, the browser being used, and the individual user’s preference settings.

Table 3-1 lists the amount of canvas space that is available at standard monitor resolutions. Measurements were taken with the browser maximized to fill the monitor and with all possible chrome elements such as buttons, location bars, and scrollbars visible. In a way, this can be considered a worst case scenario for available space (with the browser maximized).

Bear in mind that these are theoretical extremes, and actual browser window dimensions will vary. Users may have some of the buttons showing, but not all of them. Scrollbars turn on and off automatically, so they are difficult to anticipate. Users with high monitor resolutions (1024 pixels wide and higher) do not necessarily open their browser windows to fill the whole area, but may keep several narrow windows open at the same time.

Table 3-1. Minimum canvas dimensions at various monitor resolutions

Browser	640 × 480	800 × 600	1024 × 768	1280 × 1024
a Netscape measurements are taken with MySidebar hidden. MySidebar takes up 170 pixels of horizontal space
b Macintosh widths ...