Expanded Memory

In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching introduced April 24, 1985 that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory. Expanded memory uses parts of the address space normally dedicated to communication with peripherals for program memory as well. The practice is outlined in the Expanded Memory Specification (EMS), which was developed jointly by Lotus Software, Intel, and Microsoft, so that this specification was sometimes referred to as "LIM EMS." The use of expanded memory became common with games and business programs in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, but its use declined as users switched from DOS to 32-bit operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Linux.