Winamp 5.5 Beta Released With Numerous Updates

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
From our front-page news:
If any MP3 player can be considered a true classic, it would have to be Winamp. I first found out about the player around version 0.93, when a family member proved to me that he had hundreds of song files on his computer. At the time, I couldn't wrap my head around it, since I knew songs off CD's hovered around 40MB and his hard drive at the time would never have supported that. Well, it sure didn't take long for me and millions of others to catch on to what MP3s are all about.

Over the years though, Winamp has decreased in popularity, partly in thanks to an acquisition by AOL and also partly in thanks to the release of iTunes. Even still, there is a massive fanbase that still supports the player. Today they have released a new beta, for version 5.5. Included is a completely new theme and design, which you can see in the image below. After installation, you will need to manually choose this theme.

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As you can see, it has a standard media player appeal, and is similar to iTunes and others in different ways. At all times, you will have access to your current playlist in the top-right corner, while the bulk of the application displays whatever current menu item you have selected, whether it be your media list or Shoutcast Radio. Also of interest is the fact that when playing a a song, it will display album art at the bottom, should it be able to find some. In another nice touch, relevant news is also displayed in that area. For a massive features-list and bug-list, follow the link to the official forums below.

Source: Winamp Forums
 

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
Oh sweet Winamp, how I loved thee. I can remember the days of this being my only media player. Then came Windows media player, I think it was version 8 or 9 and it was lights out for Winamp, mainly because I hate everything AOL. Now I use Foobar and absolutely love it... thanks Rob.
 

NicePants42

Partition Master
The only loyalty I had to Winamp (besides being the first mp3 players I ever used) was the skins and the VISUALIZATIONS, particularly Milk Drop. When Milk Drop was released, it was the best thing since sliced bread. Geiss? Ass. G-Force? Ass. Any visualization on WMP? Ass-tastic.

If Winamp 5.5 has Milk Drop, I'll try it. If anyone knows of a visualization program better than Milk Drop, please link me.
 
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