RIP: Winamp (rumors of demise greatly exaggerated)

[cartman]

It will stop whipping the llama's ass on Dec. 20th.

RIP Winamp: iconic media player to be discontinued December 20th, 2013 - Haverzine (http://haverzine.com/2013/11/20/rip-winamp-iconic-media-player-to-be-discontinued-december-20th-2013/)

[Suicane75]

First they took away my Netscape, and I said nothing.
Then they took away my Winamp and I said nothing.
If they come for my Mirc I'll have a shotgun ready.

[Izulde]

It's been about 5 years since IRC had any relevance IMO

[Radii]

It's been about 5 years since IRC had any relevance IMO

Except, of course, to all the people who use it... in which case it is quite relevant!

[Logan]

I remember when a Winamp update - maybe 2002-2003ish - took away the ability to hit "J" and bring up a text box to type a song you wanted to jump to. Damn near caused a riot in the dorms.

[ISiddiqui]

Though I'm guessing that usage rates are fairly low at this point. I used to use Winamp all the time, but its been very, very long since I've even fired it up. I don't think I've even installed it on my new laptop (which is about a year old)

[Alf]

One of my colleagues still uses an old version of Winamp :) Guess he still will until future OSes don't support it.

[frnk55]

I've always used Winamp. So now what do I use?
What do you guys use?

[Easy Mac]

Spotify. Or if its music I own that isn't on spotify (Beatles, Zeppelin) I uploaded it to Google music.

[Draft Dodger]

I still use winamp quite a bit - mostly as I'm cleaning up tags before I import to iTunes.

[ISiddiqui]

I use Google Play.

[fantom1979]

As I will probably be the last Winamp user, I will make sure I turn out the lights on my way out.

Never been a fan of the way Google Play, Amazon, or Itunes organizes music. This entire situation is completely expected, as I am sure the number of people that actually have a local collection of .mp3s is getting smaller.

[Vince, Pt. II]

It's not like it's going to magically stop working. They're just going to stop supporting it/keeping it available for download. You guys should be able to continue using it.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Never used it...Figured it was something useless

[RainMaker]

I think every person in college used it back in the late 90's-early 2000's. Being able to skin the player was a nice feature.

They started to get bloaty later on but it really was a great music player in it's early days. Simple and did what you wanted without a bunch of crap thrown in.

[fantom1979]

They started to get bloaty later on but it really was a great music player in it's early days. Simple and did what you wanted without a bunch of crap thrown in.

It reminds me a lot of the uTorrent situation now. Started off lightweight made by a person or a couple of people. Gets bought out by a larger company and end up becoming more and more bloated. I never upgraded past WinAmp 2.x. 3.x and 5.x just seemed packed with features that I would never use.

[RainMaker]

Seems like browsers and messenger services went through a similar transformation too. Speed and ease of use are overlooked too often. Makes me wonder if we'll see a shift in music players back to a more simple design.

[sterlingice]

You think about software, tho, and things go through so many revisions in just a few years, due to the nature of the beast. If something is already small, quick, and efficient- where do you improve?

SI

[ISiddiqui]

It appears Microsoft may be Winamp's savior:

Source: Microsoft In Talks To Buy Shoutcast And Winamp From AOL | TechCrunch (http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/21/source-microsoft-in-talks-to-buy-shoutcast-and-winamp-from-aol/)

[DaddyTorgo]

I think every person in college used it back in the late 90's-early 2000's. Being able to skin the player was a nice feature.
Simple and did what you wanted without a bunch of crap thrown in.

This. Feel like I should grab a copy of it.

[cartman]

Winamp and Napster used to be like peanut butter and jelly back in the day.

[DaddyTorgo]

I've never been more into music than in the Napster days.

Ever since then my interest has just...really waned.

[sterlingice]

I've never been more into music than in the Napster days.

Ever since then my interest has just...really waned.

Isn't that as much a factor of age as the content itself?

SI

[cartman]

Winamp lives!

Winamp’s new owner has big plans for mobile, even car audio systems | Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/01/winamps-new-owner-has-big-plans-for-mobile-even-car-audio-systems/)