try 7zip (google it) some time on that Q6600.
that utility is multi-threaded/multi-core aware. it's great.
I pretty much use that and winRAR these days exclusively.
We have 2 cats that live outside my apartment, the both have collars but run freely. My sister has food and watch trays outside for them, and the spend most of the day hang out on the deck, sitting on the chairs..
I perfer cats over dogs, mainly because cats dont bark.