Multicore processors are a type of computing architecture where a single physical processor contains multiple processing units, called cores, each capable of executing program instructions independently. This design allows for parallel execution of tasks, significantly enhancing performance and efficiency, especially for applications designed to take advantage of parallel processing. Each core in a multicore processor can work on its own task, enabling the system to handle more tasks simultaneously compared to a single-core processor. This is particularly beneficial for multitasking environments and applications that are optimized for parallelism, such as video encoding, scientific simulations, and complex data analysis. The shift towards multicore processors reflects the broader CPU industry trends towards parallelism to continue improving computing performance in the era of Moore's Law slowing down, as increases in clock speed become harder to achieve due to CPU physical limitations and CPU thermal limitations.