If you have gone anywhere that there are computers being sold in recent times, then you have no doubt heard about dual and quad core processors becoming not only very popular, but also very accessible to the average computer user. If you know the basics of Latin and Greek derivatives, you are most likely well aware that dual means two, and quad means four. The idea that more than one core can do more than a single core can, even if the single core is extremely fast, is a notion that a lot of super computers have been based off of for many years now. While you most likely do not have the kind of budget that a super computer needs, you do most likely have programs that could use a lot of power.
If one processor core is good, then two or more should be far better. This is the theory that led to computer companies designing the multiple core processors that have become popular lately in many models of computer. Naturally, the more speed a group of processors packs, the more quickly any given command or task should be able to be accomplished by all of that hardware. While some people do not know how it all works, the process is actually rather ingenious when you think about it.
If there are several cores, one of the cores acts to orchestrate the actions of the entire group. A small amount of its power is devoted to arranging all of the tasks that the various processors are expected to carry out. And from there, the processors are all used at the same time to do multiple parts of a major task, or each one can carry out its own smaller task (such as running a background program or two). It generally works very well, and allows a computer that has more than one core to run at an incredible rate of speed by comparison.