Editing CompuServe (section)

===File transfers===
Around 1981, CompuServe introduced its CompuServe [[B protocol]], a [[file transfer|file-transfer]] [[communications protocol|protocol]], allowing users to send files to each other. This was later expanded to the better-performance B+ version, intended for downloads from CIS itself. Although the B+ protocol was not widely supported by other software, it was used by default for some time by CIS itself. The B+ protocol was later extended to include the Host-Micro Interface (HMI), a mechanism for communicating commands and transaction requests to a server application operating on the mainframes. HMI could be used by "front end" client software to present a [[GUI]]-based interface to CIS, without having to use the error-prone [[Command-line interface|CLI]] to route commands.

CompuServe began to expand its business operations outside the United States. It began in Japan in 1986 with [[Fujitsu]] and [[Nissho Iwai]], and developed a [[Japanese language|Japanese-language]] version of CompuServe named ''NIFTY-Serve'' in 1989. In 1993, CompuServe Hong Kong was initiated as a joint venture with Hutchison Telecom and was able to acquire 50,000 customers before the dial-up ISP frenzy. Between 1994 and 1995 Fujitsu and CompuServe co-developed [[WorldsAway]], an interactive [[virtual world|virtual environment]]. As of 2014 the original virtual environment that began on CompuServe in 1995, known as the [[Dreamscape (chat)|Dreamscape]], was still operating.

During the late 1980s, it was possible to log on to CompuServe via worldwide [[X.25]] [[packet switching]] networks, which bridged onto CompuServe's existing US-based network. It gradually introduced its own direct [[dial-up]] access network in many countries, a more economical solution. With its network expansion, CompuServe also extended the marketing of its commercial services, opening branches in London and Munich.