Thread: Winamp

It's easy to have forgotten about Winamp¬after Windows Media Player (WMP) was finally able to manage your music library, many of us didn't look beyond. And, of course, there were problems with the program itself. Winamp 3 was a nightmare best not talked about and Winamp 5 didn't match the performance of the original Winamp 2.8. Fire up the new Winamp 5.5, however, and we're impressed once again.

For one thing, Winamp's got a slick new interface, but still gives you the choice to use the original Winamp skin from way back when. The Music Library adopts the now standard three-pane interface (artists, albums and tracks) and lets you search for artists and songs in real time. You can double-elick on songs to add them to the playlist-it doesn't sound like much, but this is a feature many loved in WMP 10 and sorely missed in WMP 11. You can even manage your video collection, apart from regular features like ShoutCast support. And then there's the one killer feature that sets it apart-GraceNote.



Song-hummer's Tip

We all have our share of files called Track01.mp3 by an artist we don't know, and quite often, these are songs we really like. With Winamp, thanks to a tie-up with GraceNote, you can now find out who sung this mysterious song. In Winamp's playlist, right-elick on the file you want to identitY and choose Send To > Autotag. Make sure you're connected to the Internet, and within seconds, you'll see all the song information you need. Apply the new ID3 tag and be on your way!

The Alternative
Yahoo! Music Jukebox musicengine/; formerly MusicMatch Jukebox) is another media management tool we like-it's easy to use and does its job well. You can also use it to listen to LaunchCast radio stations, and it'll change your Yahoo Messenger status to show which song you're playing (should you choose this option). Only ... it's purple. Purple