Number one and two on the list: a netbook and a smartphone. The days when you can build a web layout assuming that most people have a desktop PC are long gone; a growing percentage of today’s visitors are using smaller portable devices. Which means designing for the small screen sizes. As anybody in web design can tell you, this means liquid layouts and CSS, with smaller logos and graphics.

Number five on the list is also a mobile computer. These smaller devices are known as UMPCs, for Ultra-Mobile Personal-Computers, and they can serve content in “portrait” mode like a smartphone, or flip over and slide out a keyboard, becoming like a tiny notebook. Consumers have been absolutely thrilled with these designs, and most electronics companies either have one on the market or are rushing to launch one.

And one more note: get ready for Windows 7! Microsoft looks to be giving up on Vista, and is pushing Windows 7 as the next big thing. Many previews are out there already – And for web designers, this will mean having to test websites on the new system as early as possible.

Peter Brittain