Figuring out what the hell to do with those transistors is the challenge

64-bit is mainstream now. What next?

As for Intel and others, the future (after and with 64-bit) seems to be dual core and multi core systems. Very nice. The question is: What about all the apps? Do they support dual/multi core? For the OS, support is kinda "easy". The code is already capable to handling many, many CPUs, on a single die or not.

But how will users benefit from multiple cores? Will the apps run faster just because there a now 2 processors on a single chip? I guess not really. There are benefits for the OS that may relate to improved performance. But the app itself? Well, you can run multiple instances easier and better for one. But what about a single app? A single threaded (client) app that has been designed with a single processor and a single thread of execution in mind, will not benefit and therefore users will not benefit from multiple processors or multiple cores.

Multi core is good and important but let’s not forget the applications. They are out there and if we want to make good use to these new, expanded capabilities, we better help application developer to understand how to take advantage of it.

Like Hector says: “At the end of the day, for us, it’s going to be what our customers want. Making transistors is pretty trivial. We can make hundreds of millions of transistors. Figuring out what the hell to do with those transistors is the challenge…”