Your observation is an excellent one and I will probably look closely at using labels instead of the panel control. However I did want to point out the obvious first, Netscape does indeed suck. I also realize that some are forced to write cross browser compatible code and that sucks also.
My believe is that if all developers decided not to code for Netscape anymore then there would not be much support for it and it would just disappear. I also realize that there are some die hard Netscape fans out there, and I apologize. To continue to code for a browser that is no longer supported that maybe 15% of the market is using is insane. Please don’t write code for Netscape anymore and these wild, crazy problems will vanish and we can all live in harmony with one browser.