[tlug] dedicating program to a particular core through the OS

[Gernot Hassenpflug <aikishugyo@example.com>]

Hi all,

I've come across the following on a private site:

"plus with windows 7 like vista you can set what programs run on what
core so even if a program doesn't use more then say 2 cores you can
use the feature in windows to simply dedicate those 2 cores entirely
to that program and then use your other 2 cores for all the other site
like os programs and anti virus etc..."

While I don't know how true this is, I searched and found that Windows
XP Pro could do similar things already (processes can be set to use 1
or more cores).

I have two questions:

1) is the above useful (I am under the impression that multi-core is
another way to say "SMP").
2) if so, can this be done under linux as well? And if so, would it be
useful or would it be better to let linux decide "load-sharing" by
itself---I understand that tuning an SMP system is a full-time job!

Best regards,
Gernot Hassenpflug