Dual-core refers to a CPU that includes two complete
execution cores per physical processor. It has
combined two processors and their caches and cache
controllers onto a single
integrated circuit (silicon
chip). Dual-core processors are well-suited for
multitasking environments because there are two complete execution
cores instead of one, each with an independent
interface to the frontside bus. Since each core
has its own cache, the operating system has
sufficient resources to handle most compute intensive tasks in parallel.
Multi-core is similar to dual-core in that it is an expansion to the dual-core technology which allows for more than two separate processors.
