Tables are not good for layout for a variety of reasons; you really should use CSS instead.
Click here for an amusing list of those reasons.
Here is a streamlined list of more reasons.
Oh the joys of IE... Microsoft renders everything completely different than the rest of the world; you will have to design specifically for IE (using an IE targeted style sheet maybe) then you will have to design for all the other browsers.
Don't panic though. I'm pretty new to web design and it's pretty easy to figure out. If you have more questions, feel free to ask! Good luck