Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Extended Industry-Standard Architecture
     
         (EISA) /eesa/ A {bus} standard for
        {IBM compatibles} that extends the {ISA} bus architecture to
        32 bits and allows more than one {CPU} to share the bus.  The
        {bus mastering} support is also enhanced to provide access to
        4 GB of memory.  Unlike {MCA}, EISA can accept older {XT bus
        architecture} and {ISA} boards.
     
        EISA was announced in late 1988 by compatible vendors as a
        counter to {IBM}'s MCA in its {PS/2} series.  Although
        somewhat inferior to the MCA it became much more popular due
        to the proprietary nature of MCA.
     
        [Main sponsors?  Open standard?]
     
        (1996-06-25)