gene@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Majik Thise) (12/12/89)
A friend of mine has heard of EEMS (Enhanced(?) Extended Memory System) that in effect blows the 640K memory size limit of multi-tasking programs away. For instance, instead of only having 640k to run and load multiple programs under say, Desqview, one could open up your entire extended memory (1.4 megs in my case) and use it all! Is there such an animal or is this whole thing a cruel trick to entrap the gullible? My friend seems to think it has something to do with the AST computer company, if that will help any. ))))))))))))))))))))))))))IN STEREO WHERE AVAILABLE((((((((((((((((((((((((((( gene@uokmax.ecn.uokonor.edu \"Tha-Thump...Tha-Thump...Tha-Thump... There is no Disclaimer: That's not my \ dark side of the moon really. As a matter of opinion! I've been brainwashed!\ fact it's all dark." -(you know who)
psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (12/14/89)
In article <1989Dec12.134830.9209@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu>, gene@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Majik Thise) writes: > A friend of mine has heard of EEMS (Enhanced(?) Extended Memory > System) that in effect blows the 640K memory size limit of > multi-tasking programs away. For instance, instead of only having > 640k to run and load multiple programs under say, Desqview . . . ... > My friend seems to think it has something to do with the AST > computer company, if that will help any. (There really is an answer to your question here; I just fell into a funny mode, I mean, mood.) In the beginning, Intel did design the 4004, and the 8008, and then the mystical 8080. And lots of people (notably Bill Gates) wrote software for it, and said software took up most of the 64Kbytes that the chip could address, and all was pretty good. And then Intel did design the 8086, which had a sixteen bit data path, and could address a megabyte (gosh, wow) of RAM, if you didn't mind having most of it look bank selected And Bill Lowe and Bill Gates did write software and firmware for it, and they did say unto themselves, "Wow, nobody's ever going to be able to afford a whole meg of RAM; let's reserve all but six hundred and forty K of it unto ourselves." And they used the cheaper 8088, too. And all was not bad, for a while. And then unto the world cam Mitch Kapor, and he said unto VisiCorp, "Look, I'm getting a fifteen percent commission (!) on VisiPlot, how 'bout if you just give me a million bucks and we'll call it even?" And he took his million bucks to Ben Rosin, who threw in a few cents of his own, and lo, a company called Lotus was born, and lo, it produced a product called 1-2-3, and whoa, everybody and his sister bought a copy. But then dark times came unto the folk of the Spread. For they left work each evening with a terrific headache, from bumping their heads against a ceiling that said, "six hundred and forty K". And they said unto themselves, and unto the minions of Kapor, "Hey, isn't there something you guys can do about this?" So Lotus spoke unto Intel, and they didst sayest, "Hey, isn't there something us guys can do about this?" And they did put their heads together (gently, so as not to get a headache), and they didst come up with a way of doing bank select in hardware, outside of the one meg limit, and a way that software could access this memory. And at the last minute, Bill Gates said he wanted to play, too, and they didst call it the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification, or EMS. And things were less bad. And time passed, and people said, "Gosh, only a sixteen K window into this stuff?" And AST and Desq and (I think) Ashton Tate did put their heads together (gently; see above), and lo, they developed a ninety-nine and forty-four hundredths percent compatible way of doing bank select, and they did call it the Enhanced Expanded Memory Specification, or EEMS. And Desqview required no less. And the LIM folks didst say unto themselves, "Hey, this is hot stuff." And they took their EMS 3.2 description and the EEMS book, and they didst put their heads together (ibid), and they did announce the Lotus Intel Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification 4.0 (LIM EMS 4.0), and lo, it was ninety-nine and forty-five percent compatible with EEMS, and completely (I think) compatible with EMS 3.2. And things were pretty fair. So, the answer is, just anything that requires EEMS should be satisfied by EMS 4.0 memory. Amen. Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.
ericr@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Eric Ross) (12/14/89)
EEMS = Enhanced EXPANDED memory system which is also known as (for all practical purposes) EMS based on LIM 4.0. It does what normal expanded memory, but as the additional capability of mapping itself into the address space below 640K. In addition, it supports the execution of programs in its memory. Desqview takes advantage of it quite well and lets you multi-task > 640K worth of programs. Extended memory only buys you 64K for Desqview(using QEXT.SYS). You cannot run normal DOS programs in extended memory. Eric Ross ericr%hpvcper.vcd.hp.com@hplabs.hp.com
Howard.Spindel@p8.f14.n105.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Howard Spindel) (12/16/89)
In an article of <12 Dec 89 13:48:30 GMT>, gene@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Majik Thise) writes: >A friend of mine has heard of EEMS (Enhanced(?) Extended Memory System) >that in >effect blows the 640K memory size limit of multi-tasking programs away. >For >instance, instead of only having 640k to run and load multiple programs >under >say, Desqview, one could open up your entire extended memory (1.4 megs in >my >case) and use it all! > >Is there such an animal or is this whole thing a cruel trick to entrap >the >gullible? EEMS with Desqview will allow multiple programs to run with the sum of all memory used > 640K, but each individual program has something less than 640K available (something being dependent on your hardware configuration. The whole solution works very cleanly on 386 machines but can get somewhat kludgy on non-386 machines. >My friend seems to think it has something to do with the AST computer >company, >if that will help any. AST helped produce the original specification for EEMS, and manufactured some PC add in boards that conformed to the specification. Use of AST equipment is not required to use EEMS. -- Howard Spindel - via FidoNet node 1:105/14 UUCP: ...!{uunet!oresoft, tektronix!reed}!busker!14.8!Howard.Spindel ARPA: Howard.Spindel@p8.f14.n105.z1.FIDONET.ORG