I guess Intel do still carry around the number system in its technical docs......
In any case, I think the comparison of a Pentium III to an old 386 is a bit, um, exaggerated. It's like saying your airplane is going at the speed of a bus!
If your "686" is really so slow I can only imagine your hard disk is getting really full, your RAM is running out, and your system heavily infected with spyware.
Also, a Pentium III doesn't exactly strike me as "old", even in computer-time.