Either the CPU-consuming process was running at an idle priority -- meaning the OS would always push it aside for other activities that needed CPU, such that wh

Either the CPU-consuming process was running at an idle priority -- meaning the OS would always push it aside for other activities that needed CPU, such that when the author was browsing the web or navigating emails, those more important processes got the run of the processor -- or the author is just incredibly tolerant. If there was something actually competing on an equal basis for the same cycles (instead of only taking the available cycles), the impact is obvious to anyone. While for some reason "browsing the web" always comes up as a low need activity, it happens to be the area that really differentiates machines. It is not a low demand activity, and hasn't been for years.