[CALUG] misc tech Q's

[Walt Smith]

hi,

got a couple of curiosity Q's.

I see there are a standard lot of laptops for sale:
Buzzwords such as dual core, i3, i5 etc... and AMD has a couple of
words.

Do all Intel and AMD CPU's today come with hyperthreading ?
iow,
If one purchased a supposed dual core, or a 4 core, or a single
core, is hyperthreading "standard" for EACH core ?  Is there a 
comparison between same silicon cores and separate chips ?

If a CPU has hyperthreading, is the gain in speed still in
the ballpark of 15-20% that I remember from more than a couple
years ago ( regardless of clock speed? I accept that some small
efficiencies in hyperthreading itself may have occurred).

I understand that Windows OS does multiple core distributions of the
threads automatically from within a process.  No muss, no fuss,
no particular need to pay attention for a coder.  OF course,
I could be delusional or been passed the wrong info under the 
table (<g>).   It just knows how
to spread around the code to cores and the hyperthread sections..
Does linux kernel work the same way 
for a process ?  Or does one have to code differently ?

I read on lwn.net that /proc is eliminated.
Other than addition and removal of device drivers and processor
related code ( ARM vs INTEL ), what other *nix-like features have
changed recently?  I'm running F12, well over a whole year old now !!

I'm just curious as  these came to mind recently: havent any project
or "need to know".


thx,
Walt.....