Sounds like you've stumbled onto s@h 'classic'. There is now s@h2 
running on a distributed computing support framework called Boinc that 
is also being developed by Berkeley.

For s@h classic, your concerns are valid. One of the motivations behind 
Boinc is to avoid such potential wastage.

Thanks for the quick + helpful response

Hmmm I tried using the Boinc system install - but it does not seem o
like OS9.... I registered OK, but when I ran the mac install download
it just vanished - there was no chanceto even input the reference code
I had been asigned.

The "old" version of Set@home looks pretty and works still - is it
worth me using it - or will the data i return be usless? (I dont mind
using electricity to run the data analysis - but not if it is jst
going to be ignored!

Cheers

Rob
Sheffield
(Woodseats - wet!)