386, 586, 686?

[cloverm]

Which one should I choose when downloading a program? I've got and AMD Athlon 900MHz CPU. Should I always choose the highest number? What is the difference anyway?

[Bradmont2]

They're just different versions of the Ix86 archetecutre. The 386 binaries will always work, 586 requires a Pentium, 686 requires a PII or PIII. The 686 should work with an athlon, tho in some cases this will not be true. If in doubt go with the 386 versions.