The bliss of multi-core computing

Last year in March I got a Macbook Pro, Apple's first multi-core laptop. It has an Intel Core Duo processor, which crams two CPUs onto a single die.

Later that year I got a Mac Pro desktop, which has TWO dual core processors for a total of four processors.

Once you get used to having multiple CPUs, it's hard to go back. It is so nice to be able to have a process eating processor time but not slowing down the responsiveness of the machine a single bit. For instance, I can have Second Life running and still have one (or three) processor cores available and running at full speed.

SMP computing is the future. Many new PC desktops are multi-core now and there's more on the way. Even though individual applications don't take advantage of multiple cores that well yet, there is still a massive performance boost for anyone who multi-tasks a lot on a system.

Want to have Skype, a video encode and Second Life running at once? No problem. They each get enough CPU to do their jobs.

Some process gets stuck in a tight loop and consumes all available CPU? You don't even notice it unless you run top or look at the task manager, since the machine feels just as fast.

Meanwhile, on the single CPU G4 I'm using as my work machine now, if some tab in Firefox starts consuming CPU with a flash animation, the entire machine feels slower until I find and close it.

SMP rocks.