Hola:
eso lo han llamado en inglés el Holygrail, la búsqueda de un método en css de poder hacer lo que tu pides sin problemas en los diferentes navegadores:
Three columns. One fixed-width sidebar for your navigation, another for, say, your Google Ads or your Flickr photos—and, as in a fancy truffle, a liquid center for the real substance. Its wide applicability in this golden age of blogging, along with its considerable difficulty, is what has earned the layout the title of Holy Grail.
http://alistapart.com/articles/holygrail
Suerte, Jorge H.