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Adaptive Palettes and the Web Don't Mix

Adaptive palettes don't always work well on the Web because browsers don't support the loading of custom palettes. Instead, they impose their own palettes, which are similar to the system palette.

System palette, 8-bit                  Adaptive Palette, 8-bit
  

If you switch your monitor into 256-color mode, you'll notice the color in the image on the right appears banded and distorted. The image on the left, however, retains its original dithering. Thus, the system palette works best when you're designing for 8-bit displays.
If you switch your monitor into 16- or 24-bit mode, however, the adaptive-palette image (on the right) will look better than the system palette image. This shows that an adaptive palette delivers superior results on higher bit-depth monitors. If you are expecting your site's visitors to have 16- or 24-bit displays, then you should use adaptive palettes.