Effect of upgrading kernel

[johan@pinguin.stttelkom.ac.id]

Hi ..
I'm sorry, I'm still newbie
Now, I'm using kernel 2.0.33 (CD extreme linux from Redhat)
Is there significant changing  if I will upgrade my kernel (from 2.0.33) to
2.2.x ?.
I'm now using my beowulf machine for rendering a image (skyvase.pov), after
rendering process I got TGA file. But, what's the format of raytracing image
output (file extension), and what software that I can play that animation ?
thanks Advance
Johan