Creating table, two cells side by side but alignment in one cell throws off the other!

Question

Hello,
I have a website that I am trying to display a table with two columns side by side and one column at the bottom.
so I use the following:
<table>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>
My problem is that I can't get the alignment to work right wit the first two <td> columsn that are side by side.  i put text in both and an image but it doens't align properly even without the image. Every time press <return> it adjust the alignment in the other column. as you can see below, it doesn't align correctly. I can't get it to work right.  images don't align, button doens't align, and the text on top doesn't align either.
If I press <return> in the right column at the bottom, then it moves the left column down and still doesn't align (auugh!)
Here is my code:
<table width="685">
                         <tr>
                         <td width="338" class="vline">
                         <p class="indentmain">Point 7.4 Service Pack 2 is available! </p>
                           <p class="indentpar">Point 7.4 SP2 (release date March 30, 2011), includes the newly required Anti-Steering disclosure along with other necessary compliance updates and functional enhancements<img src="../images/SideBar/customer_care.jpg" alt="" width="162" height="87" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="right" /></p>
                           <p class="indentpar"><strong>MyCalyx Administrators: </strong>Be sure to log into your <a href="https://www.mycalyx.com">MyCalyx</a> account and update the user's version of Point to 7.4SP2.</p>
                           <p class="indentpar"><strong>
                           Click</strong> for comlete release notes.</p>
                          <p class="indentpar">
                             <input type="button" class="button_Download" value="Download Instructions" onclick="window.open('http://www.calyxsupport.com/downloads/index.htm?tab=1&col6=open#CollapsiblePanel6#TabbedPa nels1')" />
                           </p>
                          <p class="indentpar"> </p>
                         </td>
                         <td width="335">
                         <p class="indentmain">PointCentral 7.3 Server Update</p>
<p class="indentpar">The PointCentral 7.3 Server Update is available for download, (released March 24, 2011). The server update addresses field mapping issues that causes data fields to <img src="../images/SideBar/page_in_book.jpg" alt="" width="162" height="87" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="right" />inaccurately appear when generating reports and adding the owner's title policy setting under the Utilities menu. </p>
                           <p class="indentpar"> </p>
                           <p class="indentpar"><a href="http://kb.calyxsupport.com/kb/article.php?id=557">Click here</a> for release notes.</p>
                           <p class="indentpar">
                             <input type="button" class="button_Download" value="Download Instructions" onclick="window.open('http://www.calyxsupport.com/downloads/index.htm?tab=1&col6=open#CollapsiblePanel6#TabbedPa nels1')" />
                           </p>
                           <p class="indentpar"> </p>
                           </td>
                         </tr>
                         <tr>
          <td height="8" colspan="2"></td>
            </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <td style="display: inline" height="5" colspan="2"><img border="0" src="/images/bottom_border.gif" width="100%" height="5"></td></tr>
                       <tr>
                          <td height="8" colspan="2"></td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
            <td colspan="2"><p class="indentmain">What to look for in Point 7.4</p>
              <p class="indentpar">There have been peculiar incidents with the Transmittal Summary and calculations on the Fees Worksheet, such as transfer taxes and up-front mortgage insurance. You can prevent or avoid such mishaps by understanding the  process that provoke or produce these incidents.</p>
              <p class="indentpar">We also understand that since the release of MyCalyx.com and the non-distribution of an installation CD, installing and upgrading Point is new but still simple and easy, but just takes some getting use to.</p>
              <p class="indentpar">We have provided a list of commonly used articles to help guide you through using MyCalyx.com and avoiding irregularities with the Fees Worksheet.</p>
              <p class="indentpar">
                <input type="button" class="button_Download" value="Download Instructions" onclick="window.open('http://www.calyxsupport.com/downloads/index.htm?tab=1&col6=open#CollapsiblePanel6#TabbedPa nels1')" />
              </p></td>
            </tr>
                         </table>

Answer 1

Tables work that way, that's why CSS styling is preferred for layouts.
http://apptools.com/examples/pagelayout101.php
If you must use tables, try nesting tables inside cells of an outer table .