More cores, please
People ask why I would want more than 2 cores since “nothing really uses more than 1 core”. Beyond developer friends who get to appreciate the beauty of a “make -j8″, plenty of other apps utilize more than 1 core. Beyond the OS itself, Adobe Photoshop and Handbrake are just two apps I use that will fully utilize multiple cores. As I type this, my Mac is reconverting the Fiesta Bowl game that I pulled down to my Mac. Popcorn – or more correctly, whatever it uses in the background – is grinding away at all 4 cores, and the machine is quietly humming along.
(Side note: I have recommended TivoDecodeManager in the past. When I last checked it would not transfer nor decode HD recordings. That is the reason for purchasing Roxio Popcorn.)
Us developer friends also develop software that is heavily multithreaded and high performance. More cores is love for performance and stability testing.
Not to even mention the sheer number of apps most of us run at the same time.