1-the time it is been running 2-The memory consumption in % of total ram 3-How much CPU power is being used for the application in % and more variables.

You can watch the screen for the updated time the application has been running for the current moment. Once the calculation is presented on the screen, you will know the calculation is done. You look at the time you just recorded right before the application ended.

The time the application took to calculate the formula: 2^9,999,999 and the memory used, in addition to the CPU power will give you an approximate idea about what your computer can do.

Also, you can use the above test to compare two computers and get and idea about the power.

Here is an example:

If computer P II, Ram=256Mbs took 30 minutes to compute 2^9,999,999; then, you ran the same test 2^9,999,999 with P III, Ram=512Mbs that took about 15 minutes, which is 1/2 the time it took before.

Then, you can approximate that the power of P III is about twice that of P II. Do, you get the idea?

In summary, there is an easy way for you to explore the power and performance in front of you, right on the screen. I was able to achieve this task by using Linux, and Windows XP that are installed on the same computer. I also found out that Linux can do better computation that Windows Xp.

Thanks,