It fails, for example, at weather forecasting, where a perturbation in one part of the atmosphere disturbs its neighbors. Of course, plenty of important work remains. United Devices, which wrote the Intel client, is also investigating the human genome. And Entropia, a key competitor, is seeking treatments for AIDS and clues to stock market volatility. First, ask yourself whether you want to support commercial distributed computing projects, like those run by United Devices and Entropia.
Security is another concern.
The distributed computing client software, like any program that communicates over the Internet, could be a target for hackers. Your best protection may be to stick with well-established firms. Leaving security aside, the best way to choose a charity is to put your CPU where your heart is. Others may be drawn to the AIDS project, to SETI, or to something else. Wherever you place your bet, though, expect distributed computing to keep growing.