The first version of Intel's Celeron processor, introduced last spring, wasn't as popular as expected because:
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It lacked a level 2 cache, so performance was slower than expected.
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It wasn't compatible with Windows 98.
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There was a bug in its mathematical calculations.
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It sounds like a vegetable you'd leave on your plate.
The first Celeron processor (Covington core) lacked Level 2 cache memory, which severely impacted its performance. Without L2 cache, the CPU frequently waited for data from slower main memory, making it perform worse than expected despite its clock speed. Later Celeron models (Mendocino core) added L2 cache and improved significantly.
The original Celeron (the "Covington" core, based on Pentium II but with no on-die/on-package L2 cache) suffered noticeably lower performance than expected, especially compared to the Pentium II, because the L2 cache is critical for feeding the CPU quickly and its complete absence created a significant bottleneck in real-world benchmarks. It was fully Windows 98-compatible (an x86 chip runs any x86 OS), had no notable math bug (that association is more famously tied to the original Pentium's FDIV bug), and the "sounds like a vegetable" option is just a joke distractor. So the missing L2 cache is the historically accurate reason for its lukewarm reception.