The Intel Above Board was the first product to incorporate the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification (EMS), which allows PC-DOS programs to access up to eight megabytes beyond the 640K memory limit. Above Board/286 is particularly useful to users of programs that require all data to be memory-resident, such as 1-2-3, Symphony, and Framework III. With an Above Board you can access up to 4Mb additional memory on a PC and 8Mb additional memory on an AT. This allowed users to create enormous spreadsheets - up to 15 times that available under normal DOS constraints. If a machine has less than 640K, Above Board memory could be used to back-fill or assign a portion of its memory to fill up system memory. Above Boards had software for a RAM disk, print buffer and menu- driven configuration program. Intel Above Board PS/286 was functionally equivalent to the Above Board 286 and added a serial port and a parallel port. Above Board provided expanded memory for products which work better with memory beyond the 640K DOS limit such as
Lotus 1-2-3 or require additional memory such as IBMOS/2. Research Intel Above Board
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Research Intel Above Board
