work as dual core depending only on the application, or does the current version of windows make no difference? For example, as far as I know the 64bit processors need XP64 or Vista to work as they can under windows. Is there any such OS problem with the dual core aspect of the CPUs as well?
No. Windows 2000 or Windows XP understands dual core CPUs, though the Windows scheduler since service pack 2 does a better job with multiple processors. So Windows will use the second core, as needed.
Good. Thank you very much!
As Loyd wrote, the OS will take advantage of the dual core, but not all applications will benefit unless they are specifically optimized.
If you are only running one app at a time, and that app is not multi-threaded (as is the case for most apps), then there is little to no benefit. BUT, Windows can offload services and run secondary apps on the 2nd core. So if you’re surfing the web and doing something else at the same time, neither app should be able to stall the other.
Great news then. :D Thank you guys.