Music player for windows

[commodorejohn]

Winamp. Winamp Winamp Winamp. Plugins for absolutely every format under the sun, lightweight at least in the older versions (I use 5.01, never have had a need to upgrade,) excellent shell integration, and you can completely disable all the media-library stuff if you want (which I do.)

[commodorejohn]

WinAmp and all its websupports ends on december 20th. WinAmp development has been terminated, so on long term you need a new player.

Especially if security leaks are found in the existing version, you ran out of options.

There is a small chance it gets open source one day.

Why the hell would you need a new player when Winamp will still play all the file formats it currently plays with all the functionality it currently has? And even if someone bothered to find security holes in it (like there aren't a million better targets out there,) you could just, y'know, disable its Internet functionality altogether (you can do this at least up to 5.01, probably later.)

I swear, the Cult of Constant Updates is really getting on my nerves...

[commodorejohn]

I call it insane to use windows software without installing all updates. This includes non system stuff, too.

Most trojans and viruses come through bugs in third party software not  up to date and WinAmp is a target worth attaching because of its number  of active users. Especially when updates are not provided for a while.

Not updating stuff like java and flash (if installed) is the best way to get your system infected quite easy.

Which totally matches up entirely with my having used old (not even remotely current) versions of Winamp for over a decade and never once having been infected via it. Definitely a huge risk.

Just turn the damn Internet features off. It's super-freaking-easy.

[commodorejohn]

Ever heard about gif or jpg files infecting a system?

No, I haven't, because GIFs and JPEGs do not contain executable code. There is no possible way they could be a vector for infection unless A. you were using some kind of malware image-viewer program that deliberately executed some kind of metadata in the EXIF information as if it were code, and you just happened to view specific images that contained a virus payload designed specifically for that viewer, or B. it's actually a VBScript or other executable file named something like picture.jpg.vbs (in which case it's not actually a GIF or JPEG) and you've got extension hiding in Windows turned on so you only see picture.jpg, in which case it's your fault for not turning extension hiding off to prevent exactly that.

I swear, next you're going to tell me that "hackers can turn your computer into a bomb!"

[commodorejohn]

So for you unbridled neurotics who can't fathom using software that doesn't come out with a new version every three days, Winamp has been bought by a company that apparently actually gives a damn about it. Let's cross our fingers that being bought by a media/advertising network  doesn't herald the inclusion of a bunch of crapware with a damn fine  media player, but at least it's not dead for the moment.

[commodorejohn]

But does VLC support the eleventy billion different formats Winamp has plugins for? I can listen to SID, NES, SNES, N64, Playstation, Gameboy, GBA, NDS, Genesis, and a bunch of other formats natively in Winamp.

But yeah, Winamp definitely isn't good as a video player. It's just aces for music.