It can use either.
Smart phones use single core and multi-core processors.
Of course it will run. But it will not be making full utilization of the multi-core architecture. In that aspect, single-core processors with more processing power are sometimes better suited to run single threaded application than multi-core processors with less processing power.
how does the supermarket use that
Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows are three types of operating systems. Single-user, multi-tasking, multi-user, and real-time operating systems, or RTOS, are different types of operating systems that computers use.
Since Windows (at least the kind most people use) only runs on x86 and x86-64 processor, the "best" processor for both would be the most powerful processor from Intel or AMD.
XP Home Edition is limited to one processor DIE. It can have any number of CORES. XP can see all of the cores of a Core 2 Quad, for instance. Even if the system in question had two separate die, or chips, XP would still work. It just wouldn't be able to use the second processor.
This largely has to do with Linux's relationship to Unix. Unix itself was a multi-user operating system built for mainframes and minicomputers. For practical purposes, however, multi-user operating systems are probably the most useful nowadays when it comes to systems where more than one user will be on the same system at the same time. Servers most frequently use this but a Linux desktop may also use this in cases where another user might run an X session remotely off the same machine or SSH in.
Early computing was performed on a single processor. Makes use of a single cpu to execute one or more programs for each application Ex: A uni-processor
Yes, only use the first stage.
World of warcraft is software. It cannot choose whether or not to use a dual core processor. If the processor in a computer is a dual core model, it will be using both, if is a single core, it will use that, and if it is a quad core, it will use all 4.
Multi-tasking is a sort of generic term that can mean almost anything, so I'm guessing that you might be referring to multi-threading. (To my knowledge and recollection, multi-tasking is more of a layman's term) Multi-threading is one process (or application) executing multiple "threads" or tasks in parallel. For instance, it might be faster to divide up a large math problem into three parts and execute them in parallel. A single processor can't actually execute the threads simultaneously; rather, it quickly switches from one thread to the next, giving each thread a share of time to use. This happens so quickly that it appears to be in parallel. Multi-processing is dividing a given task into several smaller tasks and delegating those tasks to more than one processor. Multi-threading (or "multi-tasking") may be used on one or more processors and is not limited to multi-processor machines. There's a lot more to it, but that's a start.
The number of processor cores are more like a speed multiplier. So the answer is:Yes, when software is designed only for multi core processors or running more then one program.No, when it is a single program and that software is designed to work on a single core processor.If you had only one program running the number of cores would not affect the speed that program ran. This is because only one processor core is used for a single piece of software unless that software is design only to be used on a multi core processor. The number of processor cores increases the speed of a system when the processor is multitasking. The number of cores allow you to run a equal number of programs at the processors speed without sharing the processors resource's.Examples:If you use a Quad core 3 Ghz processor; you could run 4 programs at the same time and each would run 3 GHz without the processor switching between programs. So the result is 12 GHz of processing being handled at one time.If you use a Quad core 3 GHz processor while you ran only 1 program and it was not designed for multi core. The result would be only 3 GHz of processing being handled.If you use a Quad core 3 Ghz processor; you could run more then 4 programs at the same time. The maximum processing being handled would still be no more then 12 GHz.