The free software/open-source compiler gcc is to get automatic, compile-time multi-threading.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzEzNA
This is huge. It's the first step towards multi-core PCs and consoles being utilised effectively.The big problem with the move to multi-core (which was a R&D and manufacturing cost saving technique by CPU makers) was that it required a lot of extra effort to properly take advantage of the additional cores, and all previous programs need a rewrite. As core counts increase (AMD plans a 12-core chip in 2010; Intel an 80-core one in the future) the problem will get worse.
What we need is a compiler-level (i.e. automatic) program to multi-thread apps for you on compile. Even if it's very inefficient it will provide large performance increases to currently single-threaded apps.