6 reasons we’ll miss Winamp

[Shaka Zulu]

Apologies if this has been already posted, or if this is old news:

Good night, sweet prince.

After 15 years, Winamp—arguably the first dominant desktop mp3 player—has announced that it's ceasing operations. (We can hear the punchline already: “Winamp still exists?”) And although most of us haven't used the damn program in over a decade, those who've used it will always cherish it deeply. Not because of its functionality. Not because of its design. Not because of its former dominance.

It’s because as far as mp3 players go, Winamp: You were our first.

6 reasons we’ll miss Winamp

Anybody who still wants Winamp (especially the pro version) has until the 20th to get it; it stops being issues on that day.

 

[Shurik]

I've used Winamp since about 2000 and have never felt a need to change it to something else. It's simple and works fine and I'll keep using it ...

 

[NCC1701]

Though I still have Winamp installed, I can't remember the last time I actually used it, iTunes has been my go-to mp3 player for the last 5 years or so.

 

[Kronos]

I've used Winamp since about 2000 and have never felt a need to change it to something else. It's simple and works fine and I'll keep using it ...

Same here, it plays music, that's all I want it to do and it does it well, I don't need some memory hogging, badly designed, ugly as sin behemoth program that wants to sell me crap playing my music.

 

[cardinal biggles]

MacAmp was my first MP3 player (back when I had a PowerMac in college), and I immediately went to WinAmp as my player of choice when I switched to Windows in grad school. I've never been bitten by the iTunes bug; all my MP3s come from CDs that I either purchase (yes, I still occasionally buy a few!) or borrow from friends or the public library to rip, and WinAmp was basic, unobtrusive, and let me do what I wanted, not what it wanted.

 

[Yoda]

I still use Winamp, hell, I even paid for it a few years back after a solid decade of using it. It's better than Windows Media Player, it did a better job managing my crappy iPod Classic that I got as a gift than that piece of crap iTunes could ever have dreamed... burned CDs, had good plugins, did just about everything I'd ever want it to. It's not like I bothered to download updates on a regular basis, pretty much feature complete for my purposes already. It really whooped the llama's ass.

But I wonder if at some point I'll need to move on to other software. So what's good these days?

 

[TheSeeker]

I still like it better than iTunes. Just last weekend I found a playlist I made in 2000 and sparked up Winamp to listen. Since my folder structure hadn't changed everything was still there.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I used Winamp at some point, years ago. I think my brother still uses it on his laptop. He finds it uses less resources.

I use Windows Media Player, which I've really loved since version 9 or 10. I really like the layout, it rips CD's and with Shark007's codec pack installed, I can play absolutely anything on WMP.

 

[Amaris]

I've used Winamp since 1998, and it has always been a favorite go-to media player. I've got it to where I use VLC for all of my videos, and Winamp for all of my music, so it's a shame to see the player go. I can say, without hesitation, that it's better than most of the alternatives, and it's certainly better than either iTunes or Windows Media Player.

 

[ITL]

When the man comes round to forcibly remove Winamp from my PC and phone I will kick him square in the nuts.

That's what's happening, right?

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Used it once, would like to buy the pro version and use it again (on a laptop or tablet computer).

 

[publiusr]

Sad to see dear old things go...

 

[CorporalClegg]

And there's one reason we won't:

Foobar.

 

[Amaris]

Used it once, would like to buy the pro version and use it again (on a laptop or tablet computer).

Go download the final release from the website. It is the full version, and it's being given away.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I don't think anybody is happy to hear this but the llama.

I remember running it on my 486 when I had no money to buy a pentium PC. I could still play .mp3 files in mono at 22k with Winamp which was better than nothing. Even later versions of Winamp removed that ability.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I've been using Winamp for about ten years and I've always loved it for it's simple, clean interface.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Same here. It's been my default player on all my machines since-- since I don't know when. What a shame that it's being discontinued.

I guess I better download the Omega Version.