WorldBench performance
WorldBench's overall score is a pretty decent indication of general-use performance for desktop computers. This benchmark uses scripting to step through a series of tasks in common Windows applications and then produces an overall score for comparison. WorldBench also records individual results for its component application tests, allowing us to compare performance in each.

The ThinkPad T60 pulls out to a commanding lead over the M4000 in WorldBench. Let's look at the results from WorldBench's individual component tests to see where and how the T60 performed better.

The T60 completes nearly all of the tasks in less time, but some of its biggest leads come in tests where the Core Duo's second execution core can really shine. The Microsoft Office test, for instance, does multiple things at once in order to simulate user multitasking, and the Windows Media Encoder tests employ a multithreaded video codec. In cases like these, a dual-core laptop has a decided advantage.

Incidentally, we also tested these laptops in WorldBench with power-saving features like SpeedStep enabled. In that case, the ThinkPad T60 scored 83, just a couple of points off its full-speed score, while the M4000's score dropped to 61. I believe Sharp's power management software is being very aggressive about keeping clock speeds low and saving power, even on its most conservative setting with SpeedStep adaptive clock throttling enabled.