Multitask processing is the process by which a computer's CPU is able to delegate tasks among the computer's cores. The way in which the computer is able to break each task into its various sections and then process the tasks has a lot to do with the CPU's ultimate performance. People who use their computers only to accomplish relatively simple tasks will probably never notice that multitasking is occurring, regardless of which method their computer uses to accomplish it. On the other hand, the computer's method of multitasking could make a huge difference in ultimate performance to users who want to accomplish complicated tasks like batch video editing or heavy gaming.
Basic Multitask Uses
When a computer runs several programs at one time it is multitasking. For example, opening a Web browser while using Microsoft Word is a case of multitasking, since your single CPU is running more than one task. Multitasking also occurs when your computer manages processes that open during startup. This is important, since most users open multiple programs at one time and expect each program to run as fast as their other already opened programs. Computers that use the most efficient methods of multitasking will accomplish each of these tasks more seamlessly than those that do not.
Effective Multitasking
Multitasking capabilities take several factors into consideration, including the number of cores available on a CPU, the amount of main memory available on the user's system and the speed of the central processing unit. The computer's front side bus, or FSB, which determines how quickly a CPU can communicate with hardware and software, can also play a determining factor in the efficacy of the computer's multitasking.
Cooperative Multitasking
Of the various forms of multitasking, the first is cooperative multitasking, which involves the operating system allowing currently running tasks to give up control of the CPU to other tasks. This process works by finding secondary tasks that are not necessarily in need of processing information at the current time. Those processes then become active only when CPU resources are available. In effect, this process gives only the illusion of multitasking, since the computer is actually lining up individual threads from multiple programs and allowing them to pass through its system one at a time for processing. Consequently, running batches of complicated tasks at one time can cause all of them to run significantly slower.
Preemptive Multitasking Process
Preemptive multitasking is typically used more than cooperative multitasking and is determined by the operating system, which allows tasks to go through processing based on their priority. Using this process, a task is only allowed to run for a certain period of time because another task is running. Due to the cutting up of tasks into time segments, this process is often referred to as "time-slice" multitasking. Since this is another method of processing individual threads one at a time, it also causes multiple complex tasks to run more slowly if they are all run at one time.
Multitask Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X systems all use multitask processing to run their programs; however, the type of multitasking is determined by each company. Today's modern versions of these companies' systems use preemptive multitasking in place of cooperative multitasking.
Multitask Processing
Newer multi-core CPUs contain more than one microprocessor, or processing unit, bundled into a single CPU. Since each microprocessor can run independently, multiple program threads can run at the same time without waiting in line for processing--in other words, they can achieve true multitasking. In addition to this, Intel's newest (as of 2010) processors, including the Core i7, use Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technology to allow each microprocessor to work on multiple threads at the same time, further increasing the multi-core CPU's ability to genuinely perform multiple tasks at the same time. This type of multitasking greatly increases a computer's ability to perform high-demand tasks such as batch video editing and gaming with little or no diminution in speed or performance quality.
Tags: cooperative multitasking, more than, same time, batch video, batch video editing, complicated tasks