The integration of sound, music, and video into Microsoft Windows has been an important evolutionary step. Mutlimedia support began first with the so-called Multimedia Extensions to Windows in 1991. In 1992, the release of Windows 3.1 made the multimedia support just another category of APIs. In recent years, CD-ROM drives and sound boards—rarities in the early 1990s—have become standard for new PCs. Few people these days need to be convinced that multimedia adds a useful dimension to the graphical visuals of Windows in taking the computer beyond its traditional role as a cruncher of numbers and text.