Intel Ships Cheap Quad Core Mobile CPU

Windows has been capable of using multi-core for many years. The Windows Server family do this very well indeed and the same tech is in the normal OS too. Browsers like Chrome even split tabs across processors. This isn't a shiny MAC thing.

The problem is that the vast majority of code written for these OS's doesn't bother to utilise all these cores that are available to them.

Hopefully now though as we see Dual-Core as standard, Quad core fairly comnmonly, and the i7 presenting 8 cores to the OS (which within a year will be wide-spread) the shift in software design will finally take place.

In the meantime my comments stand. 4 cores in a laptop... Useless 99% of the time.

The complete package, as will be achieved by 'shiny MACs' is something only specialist Windows servers can do (with quite a bit of work i might add), and not standard off-the-shelf home user OSes.

I am very much aware that Windows server can utilize multiple cores - what i am pointing out is that at present, there's a lot of 64-32-62 translation going on at the cost of a bit of processor overhead as far as certain applications are concerned.

Snow Leopard and Grand Central will provide a platform to
(1) eliminate the waste via overhead
(2) better utilize that 99% that you deem useless, by providing an optimized 64-bit OS environment and dev-kit.

Do you have a road-map for any home-user windows OS going fully 64-bit, multi-core optimized and multi-core application development-ready out of the box?

No? I didn't think so...

I use Windows Vista 64-bit right now. No need to wait for a .1 upgrade to my OS that I'll be charged £100 for.

Were Microsoft to charge £100 for a service pack there would be riots. Apple are no saviours of the world, merely able to gain an advantage through tightly controlled and massively overpriced shiny hardware.

Btw - I own an iPhone and (apart from the fact you notice how slow it is after a while of use) I love it.

Anyway - this is not about apple or Microsoft. This is about "do you need 4 cores in a laptop" and the answer is no.!

Even less so in a MAC as they don't run hardly any of today's top games. Well they do.. But to make them you have to dual-boot into Windows! /doh!!

Well done with Vista 64-bit, and the 32-bit application caompatibility modes you're working with as well. Is everything running on your computer multi-core optimized?

Microsoft Doesn't charge for service-packs in the same way Apple doesn't charge for it's major updates. A collection of the latest updates in a large download is free for most OS users. HOWEVER, a revision of your current OS which is fully optimized for the latest and near-future hardware is a different thing altogether. Mac users will probably pay £79 to bring their computers into the latest era. Windows - £150 minimum???

4 cores in a laptop on their own mean nothing - the same kit in a laptop that can use them from an OS and Application point of view will mean things you'll only discover in about 5 years at the earliest. Don't worry about it for now mate, it's way beyond you...:)