Winamp Lives Again!
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
I'm happy with my VLC/MusicBee combo, thanks. But still, always good to see popular software stay alive.
...I still use Winamp, I think version 2.6-something. I remember when they decided to put in a liveupdate service, new skin style... and a web browser for some reason... the whole thing went to shit... so I reinstalled the last version I liked and stuck with it. Still works fine.
In other news, I honestly thought AOL was dead and gone. More's the pity.
In other news, I honestly thought AOL was dead and gone. More's the pity.
For one: better sound quality and easier to maintain playlist + (more from personal experience) more reliable than Windows Media Player.Arnoxthe1 said:
OT: Glad to see Winamp isn't 'doomed' anymore, love that program, ever since I got it i never looked back to WMP.
Greatest media player? You've got to be kidding. The last time I checked, they hadn't updated their MOD player's compatibility in years. XMPlay is far superior in that regard, and I'm sure there are dozens of other MOD players which have better compatibility than Winamp. I started using XMPlay for the sole reason that Winamp's MOD support was so neglected. Of course, it has its own problems (like not being able to play hybrid PCM/FM S3M files correctly), but it's still a lot better than Winamp for what I listen to.
Didn't even know it was "dead". Have been using winamp for as long as I have had a computer with music on it. I agree with what people say about it being better before they added too much. That's why I kept an old version of it that I still use today.
I am sure there are better ones out there, but winamp has not failed me yet.
Only for music though, for video there is only VLC.
I am sure there are better ones out there, but winamp has not failed me yet.
Only for music though, for video there is only VLC.
Been using winamp since I first got a PC because my big brothers friend told us about it. It honestly worked just fine since then and it still works just fine.
If your PC is having problem loading up the program then it's your PC that is at fault. Calling it a bloat ware when it takes less than almost anything else on the system. Oh and hey if you care about RAM don't use a internet browser they take about 50 times more.
I just stick to Modern view on the skin for winamp, switching around the color once a year.
So I'm kinda surprised how so many people claim it's complete and utter shit. You just sound like a massive hipster then.
If your PC is having problem loading up the program then it's your PC that is at fault. Calling it a bloat ware when it takes less than almost anything else on the system. Oh and hey if you care about RAM don't use a internet browser they take about 50 times more.
I just stick to Modern view on the skin for winamp, switching around the color once a year.
So I'm kinda surprised how so many people claim it's complete and utter shit. You just sound like a massive hipster then.
I don't gett those bloatware claims either, it only asks 20 mb RAM and <3% of the CPU (unlike Windows Media Player). Total installation size is kept at a minimum aswell.Zefar said:
Kinda where I'm at in all this.Zefar said:
I really, really don't get the criticisms popping up in this thread. At all.
Bloatware?
Christ, I use one of the newest builds of Winamp and it never uses as many system resources as WMP or VLC[footnote]Not even going to get into the MASSIVE memory leak that is Flashplayer.[/footnote]. Plus, with either the default or a custom skin it takes up as much, or as little, desktop space as I want.
Compatibility
This one really baffles me. Very rare is the occasion when I come across an audio file Winamp won't play. Video is another story, but the base range of supported formats is still pretty high. 3rd party plugins solve the rest.
Instability and slowness
Another I don't get. I've been using Winamp for over a decade. In that time I've had it crash maybe five times. And even then each one was the result of another program or Windows causing the problem. And, it's hotkey system is fast and endlessly useful.
Plus, I've yet to find one that has as robust and as useful a library system.
But whatever. Really glad to hear someone's resurrecting the program and the related services. I look forward to Winamps future.
It's definitely a minimal program, in terms of system resource usage, and is one of the best if that's what you're looking for. However, fair warning: it's a hideous program. The base UI is as amateur-looking as it gets. Honestly looks like something someone whipped up in a weekend.Andy Chalk said:
Winamp can stay dead for all I care, I've had a lot of bad experience with it (instability and such, with each new version being worse than the one preceding it). Granted, it's been ten years since I last used it so it may have gotten better. But ever since I discovered JetAudio I've never had a reason to look back.
What version was that? Alpha 0.1? Because Winamp has never crashed for me. Even when you where able to run two of them at once.Whispering Cynic said:
Or rather what type of broken PC did you have when you used it? It just got better with the patches as it added more support for different sound files.
I rather liked Winamp until I moved to Windows 7.
Dunno why, but it stutters like a ***** when it isn't the foreground application (nothing else gives me this issue) which is a big problem when I'm trying to listen to stuff in the background.
So I let VLC handle that job now; it works great though it does eat up a bit more RAM (which I have in no short supply now, at least).
Dunno why, but it stutters like a ***** when it isn't the foreground application (nothing else gives me this issue) which is a big problem when I'm trying to listen to stuff in the background.
So I let VLC handle that job now; it works great though it does eat up a bit more RAM (which I have in no short supply now, at least).
It was somewhere around version 3, on a Pentium 4. It was bloated, slow, and it had the tendency to consume way too much resources. As I said, it's likely the devs fixed the following verions but I never had a reason to look into them.Zefar said:
I checked out Foobar! And I went back to Winamp. I don't get the "bloatware" complaints either and I'm happy enough with Winamp's mod and codec support. But what really does it for me is the super-quick and painless way it handles folders: I don't bother with playlists or anything, I prefer to just select from a list of directories and play. Winamp is perfect for that, Foobar most definitely is not - nor is anything else I've run into in the many, many times I've investigated other players. It's admittedly a pretty specific feature, but for me it's a deal-breaker.
Also: BEST. MEDIA PLAYER. EVAR.
That's right.
Also: BEST. MEDIA PLAYER. EVAR.
That's right.
This is the point that surprises me more than the actual subject.Lt. Rocky said:
I used Winamp for a while in high school, then switched to iTunes. Then switched to something else, I don't recall what. I've had bad experiences with audio programs just not working for me. That and I just don't personally own enough music to make any of them worth a time investment.
One thing I always liked about Winamp is that it switches to the next song instantaneously. Not like VLC were there a .2 second pause. Helpful for those albums that are just one recording session split up into different songs.