[plug] updating Debian kernel

[Tomasz Grzegurzko]

> 
> Some months ago - I did a default install of Fedora Core 3 on a P4 which 
> had hyperthreading disabled in the BIOS :
> 
> The installer still detected the capabilities of the P4 and installed 
> both the default kernel as well as the SMP kernel.
> 
> When rebooting the PC the Grub bootloader menu gave options to start 
> either the default kernel or the SMP kernel.
> 
> So I simply re-enabled the HT in the bios - but with the level of work I 
> do with Linux, I personally did not see the difference in performance.
> 
> Regards Arie

Wasn't much difference when MMX first came out (or 3DNow! if you're in 
AMD land), or SSE, SSE2, at least until applications started using these 
additions. Now bring in 64-bit x86s, and you get the idea. Binary 
applications are where you're always going to drag your feet 
unfortunately.. Now on a Gentoo system however, or on an applications 
where stuff is _specifically_ built to take advantage of these 
instructions (I'm thinking of a few games, Ut2004 springs to mind), 
things can get interesting =)

Tomasz