Dual Processors were long the drool-inducing thing of nerds.  But anymore they're pretty common to come by.  The latest move has been to go the route of Dual Cores.  Is there a real difference?  Does one setup perform better than the other?  What exactly does all this mean, and does it apply to the everyday Joe?

A terrific article at Puget Systems discusses just this topic.  It explains things for the average consumer, while providing benchmarks and other tidbits that will be of interest to the bit-heads out there.

Quickly: DualCore means putting two processors on a single chip.  It's cheaper since it only requires 1 slot on the motherboard, one chip, etc.  The flip side is to have 2 processors, each taking their own space on a more expensive motherboard.  The outcome?  (Look away or click the link if you don't want to spoil the surprise.)  The dual core systems that are becoming a standard in the computer industry are not only cheaper, they're also slightly faster.  So it's a win-win for everyone!