If you want to relive what is was like to be designing websites circa 1998/99 try your hand at creating complex tableless layouts using stylesheets. (warning - those with low frustration thresholds should steer clear of this exercise!)
It comes as no surprise that websites are starting to look somewhat "samey" these days. My guess is that people are opting to save time and their sanity while creating a derivative look that works.
It's incredibly frustrating to have your html and css validate only to have IE6(windows) choke on some presentational aspect. Not to mention the waste of time to have to rewrite/recode/recheck practically every line against IE when writing your css and html. What's up with that anyway? Have we come full circle back to having to jerry-rig hacks so that IE(win) users get the same visual experience that all other modern browsers are able to deliver?
Feh! Colour me unimpressed!