WinAmp 5.3 took some long-needed steps to improve the old-school
media player, with support for AAC encoding, CD burning, and a robust
file-management system. WinAmp 5.56 ups the ante with strong support for
portable devices, including iPods, the ability to sync non-DRMed files
to your PC from your device, an optional new interface layout and a
built-in browser for media discovery.
We liked that clicking on
an artist's name will get you related headlines and Web sites in a
separate pane. There's also Podcast support, device synchronization that
lets you tweak the sync list while in progress, and continued support
for AOL's excellent Shoutcast. The new Bento layout is worth mentioning,
too, because it gets the venerable llama away from the old modular
format. The joined panes for the browser, media player, artist list,
album list and more make WinAmp instantly more visually appealing.
There's also an Auto-Tag feature, which will download metatags from the
Gracenote database, and Winamp's proprietary music scrobler called
Orgler, with links back to AOL Music.
If you want MP3 encoding
and full-speed CD burning, you have to shell out $19.95 for the Pro
version. However, there are other problems. Automatic album art download
support is spotty at best. More importantly, there are some stability
issues when playing videos, and occasional program crashes were far more
common than they should be.
WinAmp 5.56 is no iTunes killer--not
yet. It has become, however, a strong alternative and should be of
interest to those looking for something with more meat on its bones.
Llama meat, that is.
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