Winamp (Winamp)

Member Name: thole09

Product:	Winamp
Date:	25/03/09 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast load times, Smooth playback

Disadvantages: Fewer audio/video extensions supported

Winamp has been a long standing application on my personal computer, originally being developed and released as a program to read/play .mp3 files in the mid 1990s. It has continually evolved since its humble roots and continues to grow into a more sophisticated application capable of so much more than simply playing my music.

For what it is "on the tin", Winamp is a lightweight and "bloat free" media player capable of handling various audio and video formats ranging from .mp3, .wav or .mpeg to the more recent and innovative file extensions such as .m4a, .m4v and .3gp. The program also features a native "Nullsoft" format (.NSV). One thing I particularly appreciate in this software is its low system requirements which allows me to seamlessly play music alongside any other tasks I may be doing, such as writing this dooyoo review.

When more closely inspecting Winamp one will discover its wide variety of features. The ALT + L function will load the Nullsoft Media Library; a fully comprehensive directory of "Shoutcast Radio" and "Shoutcast Television" stations. These are fully user controlled and operated media streams which boast a wide variety of content ranging from children's cartoons, video game displays, religious discussion and various features from users around the world. Winamp also boasts an equalizer which the user can tweak the data passing through it to increase or decrease the levels of bass and treble.

User friendliness is something of an acquired taste when considering Winamp. There are numerous internet related jokes which surround Winamp and it's visual design. To a new user the "classic" look may present some difficulty in navigation as there is not the typical menu system which accompanies other programs, however the user has the option to select a "modern" look during installation or may apply one of the various visual "skins" to his or her preference as downloaded from the Nullsoft website. The user, however, should find no problems during playback of the supported audio or video files. I have mainly tested and used .mp3 audio, .NSV video and audio CDs in this program and have found playback to be smooth and error-free. A possible annoyance is that, during the playback of audio CDs, Winamp will continually try to compare the tracks to an existing database to download any available album data, song titles etc. which forces Winamp to an "on top" view if minimized and can interrupt other work. This track data retrieval can be disabled, however.

Installation is through a simple graphical interface typical to other programs. Winamp itself is a very low resource application and is suitable for use on older hardware. It seems that very little has been added by the way of "resource hogging" code throughout its development, and thus has always loaded considerably quick throughout version upgrades.

I do like Winamp for what it does but it is far from an all in one solution. This program regularly handles my .mp3 audio and does it very well, but to those looking for a more complete package for audio and video playback then I would lean towards VLC Media Player.

Summary: Recommended for mp3 audio

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