Winamp Is 25 (How Time Flies)
I discovered Winamp in 1999 when I was looking for an mp3 player on my first time using a computer running Windows 98.
I was downloading music files from a website called AudioGalaxy at first even on a Dial Up connection.
It was 2001 before I got my own PC running Windows XP which cost me the best part of 900 quid.
In 2002 I learnt how to stream on Shoutcast along side Winamp for the music automation.
Although It wasn't much KOP at automation & you had to change playlists manually PLUS it had no artist seperation rules built in.
The Shoutcast DSP encoding software would regularly cut outWinamp is only good for listening to Shoutcast or playing tracks
It's NOWHERE near suitable for automating an online radio station 24/7
A factor I later blamed for not attracting any listeners to my Shoutcast stream.
The AOL years were littered with bad versions along with a HOST of bad plugins that would make Winamp Unstable
In 2013 AOL wanted to close Winamp and Shoutcast down and that really should have been the end of the story.
In 2014 Winamp and Shoutcast were bought by an outfit called Radionomy (Now calling themselves Shoutcast)
Development seemed to stall where Winamp was concerned although there have been a few versions of Shoutcast 2.x.x
The latest Winamp 5.8 is actually a leaked beta version that had to be made official and AFAIK doesn't even function properly.
The Current owners of the software seem to have Tarnished the legacy of Winamp in every way, shape and form.
They're talking about the future of Winamp being NFT (Non-fungible token) related to help support the Winamp music foundation.
Thats not what Users of the software want you should see the backlash on social media.
Personally I think Winamp's glory years are well behind it.
Audio technology has moved on somewhat since 1997!
Will people still be talking about Winamp in another 25 years?
Who Knows but the good ship Winamp has sailed and sank for some users.
IF You want to go back and see what Winamp was like 25 years ago then Click Here