386-586-686

[Yorvik]

I noticed in another post the mention of a 586 processor
In ubuntu kernel 686 says it's for Pentium Pro/Celeron/Pentium 
II/Pentium III/Pentium IV with SMP support and kernel 386 is for any 
Intel or compatible processor.
When I tried Mandriva on this machine (Intel Celeron 700MHz) it said I 
had a586 class processor.
So what's the difference between 386, 586 and 686 kernels and CPUs?

SteVe