How to recompile ubuntu kernel

[volvoguy]

Speaking of kernels....

I've always used stock kernels in the past, but I've also usually used
"lowest common denominator" hardware as well. I think the stock Ubuntu
kernel is for "i386". Would I be better off using the one labeled
"i686" on a Pentium 4 system with Hyper-Threading? As someone hinted
about earlier, does Hyper-Threading constitute the need for a SMP
kernel?

If a different kernel would be better, is it simply a matter of
installing it via apt-get or synaptic and then adding an entry for it
in the grub.conf file?

I feel like I'm asking a lot of questions, but Ubuntu is the first
Linux desktop distro that has kept me from booting back into WinXP for
long periods of time. :) If I'm using it more than any other distro
I've tried, that has to be a good thing, right? *grin*

Aaron