I'm new to this site and this is my first computer forum. This is also my first post.
I've just returned to school for my A+ and Network+ certs and may go farther, maybe even to some MS certification. We'll see.
Oh...I'm 57 y/o so be kind. When I first went to school they taught us things like how to make fire, ward off evil spirits and protect ourselves from dinosaurs (they get mean when they drink). So I'm hoping to learn a lot here.
But to my question: with both Intel and AMD coming out with dual-core CPUs--at least in prototype form--how soon will that mean anything to regular PC-users like me? From what I've read, to utilize the dual-core technology requires completely different software and current programmers have no idea how to write for multiple-core CPUs.
In the Nov. 2004 issue of Scientific American they also mentioned that they have no real motivation to learn as the dual-core can't go anywhere without it and they feel, rightly so, that consumers aren't going to drop all of their expensive software to buy a whole new set that is dual-core compatible. It appears there is no way to make the new software backward compatible.
Have there been any developments in this area that may fix this apparent roadblock or is dual-core really not for us home PC users whatever speed we like to work at?
I've just returned to school for my A+ and Network+ certs and may go farther, maybe even to some MS certification. We'll see.
Oh...I'm 57 y/o so be kind. When I first went to school they taught us things like how to make fire, ward off evil spirits and protect ourselves from dinosaurs (they get mean when they drink). So I'm hoping to learn a lot here.
But to my question: with both Intel and AMD coming out with dual-core CPUs--at least in prototype form--how soon will that mean anything to regular PC-users like me? From what I've read, to utilize the dual-core technology requires completely different software and current programmers have no idea how to write for multiple-core CPUs.
In the Nov. 2004 issue of Scientific American they also mentioned that they have no real motivation to learn as the dual-core can't go anywhere without it and they feel, rightly so, that consumers aren't going to drop all of their expensive software to buy a whole new set that is dual-core compatible. It appears there is no way to make the new software backward compatible.
Have there been any developments in this area that may fix this apparent roadblock or is dual-core really not for us home PC users whatever speed we like to work at?