tables can be fine if not overused (I count over used as this forum lol)
eg theres 32 uses of <table> in this forum!
tables are fine for data , eg topics and posts etc
but they arnt fine for use in positioning your headings , they work but are blah.
hell I would love to see a forum not over use tables and use a nice amount of divs + tables.
so don't everyone go "oh divs should be used in everything"
sure they can be used in a forum but it would require alot of work to do so and wouldnt feel or look as good.
remember kids tables are for data
divs are for everything else