OS MCA 106 Blog

Summary:
1. Dual core is the generic name given to processors that have 2 cores on the same chip
2. Core 2 Duo is the second line of dual core processors from Intel
3. Other dual core processors aside from Core 2 Duo are the Core Duo from Intel and the X2 series from AMD
4. All Core 2 Duo processors are dual core but not all dual core processors are Core 2 Duo

First of all let me tell you that Dual Core is a name of "class" or architecture of processors which refers to any processor (weather its Intel or AMD) with two cores on the same chip. Whereas Intel Core or Intel Core2Duo is a registered trademark [â?¢] of the Intel Corporation. Many peoples (even geeks) sometimes gets confusion between Core 2 Duo & Dual Core or Dual Core & Core Duo. The fact is all the above mentioned processors are Dual Core processors.

What is Dual Core Architecture :

Once upon a time when human realized that in a normal atmosphere its not possible to increase the CPU Clock speed above standard levels because of too much heat generated by CPU, Both Intel & AMD have hit the Clock speed boundary line. Heat is enemy of any processor and high clock speed means high heat and that means errors or â??BOOMâ??. Desperate need of more speed ( faster processing) is the basic reason of why technology turned or shifted to Dual Core. So rather then increasing the clock speed of Processor it was decided to put two CPUs in One. That is what we call Two Cores or Dual Core. Nowadays Quad Cores (4 cores) and even Dual Quad Cores (8 Cores) are there in market.

In a laymanâ??s tongue here's an example. Let's say a single core (Pentium 4) is a two lane road with traffic running at 100kmph, and a Dual Core is a four lane road with a traffic running at 100kmph, and a Quad core is eight lanes running at 100kmph. All lanes (cores) are running at the same speed, but more lanes (cores) can pass a lot more traffic (Information or Data) than a single.

Dual core technology refers to two individual microprocessors on a single die cast chip. This is essentially two processing units (CPUs) in one. The advantage of a dual core chip is that tasks can be carried out in parallel streams, decreasing processing time.

Now lets see the difference & Compare all of them line by line as per their release sequence. Intel has, several dual core processors mentioned below.

1. Intel Pentium D - The early model for desktops. CPU comprised two dies, each containing a single core residing next to each other on a multi chip module.

Pentium D is slower than any one of the below, It consumes higher power and so it gives more heat and even its not good in terms of Over Clocking.

2. Intel Core Duo - The Core brand refers to Intelâ??s 32-bit mobile dual-core x86 CPUs that derived from the Pentium M branded processors. The Core brand comprised two branches: Duo (dual-core) and Solo (Duo with one disabled core, which replaced the Pentium M brand of single-core mobile processor). Core Duo was Intel's first dual-core CPU for laptops. It's a whole new architecture, using two cores on a single die, which simply, gives you two chips in one package. Running at lower speeds than the old Pentium line.

The Core Duo conserves substantial power & racketing up clock speed while offering what was, at the time, record-breaking performance.

3. Intel Core 2 Duo - The Core 2 brand refers to a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit x86-64 Single, Dual and Quad Core CPUs based on the Intel Core micro architecture. The single and Dual Core models are single die, whereas the Quad Core models comprise of two dies, each containing two cores, packaged in a multi-chip module.

Core 2 Duo processors are much popular these days, It has more powerful Dual Core chip, The best performer, It consumes less power in comparison to any of the above mentioned CPU. No over heating issues, it runs cool and a perfect Over Clocker. Once â??Iâ?? overclocked my Core 2 Duo E6750 (2.66Ghz) to 4 Ghz on air with Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer. System was completely stable and temps were awesome.

4. Intel Pentium Dual Core -The Pentium Dual Core, which we found to be an excellence choice for overclockers on a low budget, is based on the popular Core 2 architecture. In fact, the processor cores are the same, but the CPU comes with only 1 MB L2 cache instead of 2 MB or even 4 MB. In addition, some features, such as Intel's Virtualization Technology (VT) are disabled. The result is a castrated Core 2 Duo processor, using the small cache size and limited to 1.6 to 2.0 GHz clock speed at FSB 800 system speed.

Intel Pentium Dual Core are based on either the 32-bit Yonah (T2060, T2080, and T2130 for notebooks with 1mb L2 cache) or 64-bit Allendale (E2140, E2160 and E2180 for desktops with 1mb L2 cache)

Later on Aug 2008, the 45nm E5200 Wolfdale Launched for mobile or desktop computers with larger 2mb L2 cache and 2.5 Ghz clock speed. This model is highly suggested in terms of over clocking. The best over clocker in such cheap price, with some enthusiasts reaching over 6GHz clock speed using Liquid Nitrogen cooling.

Intel Dual Core processors are downgraded version of Core 2 Duo, less expensive with smaller cache, but still very adequate for general mainstream computer use. In terms of performance its more or less equal to Core 2 Duos. Intel launched it with very low cost to grab the lower end market. Intel Pentium Dual Core Processors are less power consumer (65W) in comparison of Pentium D (130W). Though it has a smaller L2 cache, it has proven to be much faster than the Pentium D under the test of CPU hungry applications.

Intel Core 2 Duo processors are next gen processors from Intel on 65 nm platformâ?¦ developed from Ground up with new Architecture called Coreâ?¦ so they are whole new Processors just Jump like Pentium 2 to Pentium 3 or Pentium 4â?¦ Expect one Core 2 Duo Lowest End Processors like E4400/E4300 taking up and beating Intel Pentium D 3.8 GHz ones with ease..... runs damn cool and super over clickerâ?¦

Intel Dual Core Processors are just launched striped down version of Core 2 Duos.. there are 2 in Market for Desktop range, E2140 runs at 1.6 GHz with 1 MB L2 and 800 MHz FSB and E2160 with 1.8 GHz with same specs of E2140â?¦. these are not Pentium D rather they are same batch like Core 2 Duo based on the new Core Technologyâ?¦. they perform same like Core 2 Duos but they were launched with a very low price to counter the market of super low cost but high performer AMD X2 range line up to AMD X2 4000â?¦.

fundamental difference between windows and linux are:
1. Full access vs. no access
The fact that Linux belongs to the GNU Public License ensures that users (of all sorts) can access (and alter) the code to the very kernel that serves as the foundation of the Linux operating system. You want to peer at the Windows code? Good luck. Unless you are a member of a very select (and elite, to many) group, you will never lay eyes on code making up the Windows operating system.

2. Licensing freedom vs. licensing restrictions
Along with access comes the difference between the licenses. Iâ??m sure that every IT professional could go on and on about licensing of PC software. But letâ??s just look at the key aspect of the licenses (without getting into legalese). With a Linux GPL-licensed operating system, you are free to modify that software and use and even republish or sell it (so long as you make the code available). Also, with the GPL, you can download a single copy of a Linux distribution (or application) and install it on as many machines as you like. With the Microsoft license, you can do none of the above. You are bound to the number of licenses you purchase, so if you purchase 10 licenses, you can legally install that operating system (or application) on only 10 machines.

3.Online peer support vs. paid help-desk support

This is one issue where most companies turn their backs on Linux. But itâ??s really not necessary. With Linux, you have the support of a huge community via forums, online search, and plenty of dedicated Web sites. And of course, if you feel the need, you can purchase support contracts from some of the bigger Linux companies (Red Hat and Novell for instance).

However, when you use the peer support inherent in Linux, you do fall prey to time. You could have an issue with something, send out e-mail to a mailing list or post on a forum, and within 10 minutes be flooded with suggestions. Or these suggestions could take hours of days to come in. It seems all up to chance sometimes. Still, generally speaking, most problems with Linux have been encountered and documented. So chances are good youâ??ll find your solution fairly quickly.

On the other side of the coin is support for Windows. Yes, you can go the same route with Microsoft and depend upon your peers for solutions. There are just as many help sites/lists/forums for Windows as there are for Linux. And you can purchase support from Microsoft itself. Most corporate higher-ups easily fall victim to the safety net that having a support contract brings. But most higher-ups havenâ??t had to depend up on said support contract. Of the various people I know who have used either a Linux paid support contract or a Microsoft paid support contract, I canâ??t say one was more pleased than the other. This of course begs the question â??Why do so many say that Microsoft support is superior to Linux paid support?â??

4.Command line vs. no command line
No matter how far the Linux operating system has come and how amazing the desktop environment becomes, the command line will always be an invaluable tool for administration purposes. Nothing will ever replace my favorite text-based editor, ssh, and any given command-line tool. I canâ??t imagine administering a Linux machine without the command line. But for the end user â?? not so much. You could use a Linux machine for years and never touch the command line. Same with Windows. You can still use the command line with Windows, but not nearly to the extent as with Linux. And Microsoft tends to obfuscate the command prompt from users. Without going to Run and entering cmd (or command, or whichever it is these days), the user wonâ??t even know the command-line tool exists.

5.Flexibility vs. rigidity

compare Linux (especially the desktop) and Windows to a room where the floor and ceiling are either movable or not. With Linux, you have a room where the floor and ceiling can be raised or lowered, at will, as high or low as you want to make them. With Windows, that floor and ceiling are immovable. You canâ??t go further than Microsoft has deemed it necessary to go.

Take, for instance, the desktop. Unless you are willing to pay for and install a third-party application that can alter the desktop appearance, with Windows you are stuck with what Microsoft has declared is the ideal desktop for you. With Linux, you can pretty much make your desktop look and feel exactly how you want/need. You can have as much or as little on your desktop as you want. From simple flat Fluxbox to a full-blown 3D Compiz experience, the Linux desktop is as flexible an environment as there is on a computer.

Case Study - Windows XP vs. LINUX

Flavors
Both Windows and Linux come in many flavors. All the flavors of Windows come from Microsoft, the various distributions of Linux come from different companies (i.e. Linspire, Red Hat, SuSE, Ubuntu, Xandros, Knoppix, Slackware, Lycoris, etc. ).
Windows has two main lines. The older flavors are referred to as "Win9x" and consist of Windows 95, 98, 98SE and Me. The newer flavors are referred to as "NT class" and consist of Windows NT3, NT4, 2000, XP and Vista. Going back in time, Windows 3.x preceded Windows 95 by a few years.
The flavors of Linux are referred to as distributions (often shortened to "distros"). All the Linux distributions released around the same time frame will use the same kernel (the guts of the Operating System). They differ in the add-on software provided, GUI, install process, price, documentation and technical support. Both Linux and Windows come in desktop and server editions.

Cost
For desktop or home use, Linux is very cheap or free, Windows is expensive. For server use, Linux is very cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on only one computer. Starting with Windows XP, they use software to enforce this rule (Windows Product Activation at first, later Genuine Windows). In contrast, once you have purchased Linux, you can run it on any number of computers for no additional charge.

The upgrade edition of Windows XP Home Edition sells for about $100, XP Professional is about $200. The "full" version of XP Home is about $200, the full version of XP Professional is $300.

You can purchase assorted distributions of Linux in a box with a CD and manuals and technical support for around $40 to $80 (some distributions may be less, others may be more).

Graphical User Interface
Both Linux and Windows provide a GUI and a command line interface. The Windows GUI has changed from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 (drastically) to Windows 2000 (slightly) to Windows XP (fairly large) and is slated to change again with the next version of Windows, the one that will replace XP. Windows XP has a themes feature that offers some customization of the look and feel of the GUI.
Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. See a screen shot of Lycoris and Lindows in action from the Wal-Mart web site. The lynucs.org web site has examples of many substantially different Linux GUIs. Of the major Linux distributions, Lindows has made their user interface look more like Windows than the others.

Networking
They both do TCP/IP. Linux can do Windows networking, which means that a Linux computer can appear on a network of Windows computers and share its files and printers. Linux machines can participate on a Windows based network and vice versa.

Multiple Users
Linux is a multi-user system, Windows is not. That is, Windows is designed to be used by one person at a time. Databases running under Windows allow concurrent access by multiple users, but the Operating System itself is designed to deal with a single human being at a time. Linux, like all Unix variants, is designed to handle multiple concurrent users. Windows, of course, can run many programs concurrently, as can Linux. There is a multi-user version of Windows called Terminal Server but this is not the Windows pre-installed on personal computers.

File Systems
Windows uses FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and/or NTFS with NTFS almost always being the best choice. The FATx file systems are older and have assorted limitations on file and partition size that make them problematical in the current environment. Linux also has a number of its own native file systems. The default file system for Linux used to be ext2, now it is typically ext3. Other supported file systems includes XFS, JFS, JFFS and Reiser3. Reiser4 is in development.

Shutting Down
Both have to be told to shut down and for the same reason, to quiesce in-flight activity in an orderly manner. You shut down Windows thru the Start button, then select Shutdown. In both the KDE and Gnome GUIs for Linux, you shut the system down by first logging out (equivalent to logging off in Windows). In Gnome, you select the Halt option, in KDE, the shutdown option. Linux can also be shut down from a command prompt using the shutdown command which can either shut the system down immediately or be told to shut it down at some time in the future. Windows XP also has a shutdown command, earlier versions of Windows did not

User Data
Windows allows programs to store user information (files and settings) anywhere. This makes it impossibly hard to backup user data files and settings and to switch to a new computer. In contrast, Linux stores all user data in the home directory making it much easier to migrate from an old computer to a new one. If home directories are segregated in their own partition, you can even upgrade from one version of Linux to another without having to migrate user data and settings.

I got this from written below link:-
Linux vs Windows (a comparison)
www.michaelhorowitz.com/Linux.vs.Windows.html

Case Study - Windows XP vs. LINUX

Flavors
Both Windows and Linux come in many flavors. All the flavors of Windows come from Microsoft, the various distributions of Linux come from different companies (i.e. Linspire, Red Hat, SuSE, Ubuntu, Xandros, Knoppix, Slackware, Lycoris, etc. ).
Windows has two main lines. The older flavors are referred to as "Win9x" and consist of Windows 95, 98, 98SE and Me. The newer flavors are referred to as "NT class" and consist of Windows NT3, NT4, 2000, XP and Vista. Going back in time, Windows 3.x preceded Windows 95 by a few years.
The flavors of Linux are referred to as distributions (often shortened to "distros"). All the Linux distributions released around the same time frame will use the same kernel (the guts of the Operating System). They differ in the add-on software provided, GUI, install process, price, documentation and technical support. Both Linux and Windows come in desktop and server editions.

Cost
For desktop or home use, Linux is very cheap or free, Windows is expensive. For server use, Linux is very cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on only one computer. Starting with Windows XP, they use software to enforce this rule (Windows Product Activation at first, later Genuine Windows). In contrast, once you have purchased Linux, you can run it on any number of computers for no additional charge.

The upgrade edition of Windows XP Home Edition sells for about $100, XP Professional is about $200. The "full" version of XP Home is about $200, the full version of XP Professional is $300.

You can purchase assorted distributions of Linux in a box with a CD and manuals and technical support for around $40 to $80 (some distributions may be less, others may be more).

Graphical User Interface
Both Linux and Windows provide a GUI and a command line interface. The Windows GUI has changed from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 (drastically) to Windows 2000 (slightly) to Windows XP (fairly large) and is slated to change again with the next version of Windows, the one that will replace XP. Windows XP has a themes feature that offers some customization of the look and feel of the GUI.
Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. See a screen shot of Lycoris and Lindows in action from the Wal-Mart web site. The lynucs.org web site has examples of many substantially different Linux GUIs. Of the major Linux distributions, Lindows has made their user interface look more like Windows than the others.

Networking
They both do TCP/IP. Linux can do Windows networking, which means that a Linux computer can appear on a network of Windows computers and share its files and printers. Linux machines can participate on a Windows based network and vice versa.

Multiple Users
Linux is a multi-user system, Windows is not. That is, Windows is designed to be used by one person at a time. Databases running under Windows allow concurrent access by multiple users, but the Operating System itself is designed to deal with a single human being at a time. Linux, like all Unix variants, is designed to handle multiple concurrent users. Windows, of course, can run many programs concurrently, as can Linux. There is a multi-user version of Windows called Terminal Server but this is not the Windows pre-installed on personal computers.

File Systems
Windows uses FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and/or NTFS with NTFS almost always being the best choice. The FATx file systems are older and have assorted limitations on file and partition size that make them problematical in the current environment. Linux also has a number of its own native file systems. The default file system for Linux used to be ext2, now it is typically ext3. Other supported file systems includes XFS, JFS, JFFS and Reiser3. Reiser4 is in development.

Shutting Down
Both have to be told to shut down and for the same reason, to quiesce in-flight activity in an orderly manner. You shut down Windows thru the Start button, then select Shutdown. In both the KDE and Gnome GUIs for Linux, you shut the system down by first logging out (equivalent to logging off in Windows). In Gnome, you select the Halt option, in KDE, the shutdown option. Linux can also be shut down from a command prompt using the shutdown command which can either shut the system down immediately or be told to shut it down at some time in the future. Windows XP also has a shutdown command, earlier versions of Windows did not

User Data
Windows allows programs to store user information (files and settings) anywhere. This makes it impossibly hard to backup user data files and settings and to switch to a new computer. In contrast, Linux stores all user data in the home directory making it much easier to migrate from an old computer to a new one. If home directories are segregated in their own partition, you can even upgrade from one version of Linux to another without having to migrate user data and settings.

I got this from written below link:-
Linux vs Windows (a comparison)
www.michaelhorowitz.com/Linux.vs.Windows.html