What does MSCDEX stand for?

MSCDEX stands for Microsoft MS-DOS CD-ROM Extensions. It is an interface developed by Microsoft that provides a standardized way for MS-DOS systems to interact with CD-ROM drives. This allows users to access and read data from CD-ROMs using DOS commands. The inclusion of "MS-DOS" highlights its specific use with that operating system, while "CD-ROM Extensions" indicates its purpose of expanding DOS capabilities to support the reading of data from CD-ROM media. This is particularly important because, before MSCDEX, DOS did not natively support CD-ROMs, which were becoming more popular for data distribution. Thus, MSCDEX plays a crucial role in enabling software and applications to utilize the larger storage capacity and convenience offered by CDs during its time.