What's in the cards?

An extended AT bus competes directly with IBMs Micro Channel architecture. As a 32-bit, AT-compatible alternative to the PS/2 and the Micro Channel bus of some PS/2 models, the Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus is the culmination of the PC industry's assertion that PC buses must evolve in a compatible way. For the vast majority of today's single-user system needs, the AT is probably an adequate bus. There's been very little compelling reason to move from AT to PS/2. EISA, is intended to be only an I/O standard and doesn't attempt to specify the CPU-memory subsystem of a computer. In comparing Micro Channel and EISA, it is pointed out EISA has what Micro Channel lacks: a definition of what a bus master is and how it interfaces to a system.