There is a reason 2.4.16 is sooo much faster....

I think the recent branching of the Kernel-Devel show that even Linus feels 2.4.x is at the point where it is at a maintenance level. The change in Memory Management, VM, OOM... many other enhancements to boot.

I saw a huge (subjective on my part) change in performance, just by going to 2.4.12 from 2.4.3. And in going from 2.4.7 to 2.4.14. AND going from 2.4.9 to 2.4.16.

I see alot of stability things got better the later the kernel.