When I was first introduced to Mp3’s* in early 1999, I only knew of one way to listen to the files. That was through Windows Media Player. Now, do not get me wrong, Windows Media Player is okay, but it is somewhat drab when it comes to graphics, etc. For lack of better words, it is dull.
So, one day I was surfing the net when an advertisement came across my screen for an Mp3 player. Figuring it could not be as dull as the player I was using now, I clicked on the link. It brought me to https://winamp.com. There I saw what a thought was another drab looking player. It was the Winamp player. I was about to click off when something grabbed my attention—the fact that this player had various skins you could download to change the appearance of the player. I was sold—well almost, at least. Something else caught my attention—this player, although you could download it for free, it did cost money to register the program in your name.
Well, I really did not want to put out money for a good player; however, since it was free to download, I would try it. If I liked it, I would pay the registration fee (it was a small token amount) and if I did not like it, I would uninstall it. So, I clicked the download button thinking it would take forever to download the program. Surprisingly, it only took a couple of minutes. After it was done, I installed it onto my hard drive, found a file I wanted to hear, and clicked play. Well all I can say after that is this—I did not like it, I LOVED it! From that day until today, Winamp by Nullsoft is my top choice in Mp3 players.
Winamp
Winamp is a standard media player that is a snap to use and can be mastered by anyone in a matter of minutes. It is designed for Windows 95/98/NT, and it specializes in playing Mp3 files; however, Mp3’s are not the only type of files that this player can play. It plays basically every other media type there is out there. The only thing it does not play, to the best of my knowledge, is Mpeg (movie) files. So, if you have CD’s, it will play the CD’s like other media players do. If you have play lists saved from other media players, it will play those too. If it is music and can be played on the computer, Winamp will play it.
Also included with Winamp is a graphics equalizer, a play list editor, and a mini web browser. Although the skin that is supplied with it is boring looking, you can download various skins (like the various skin plates you can buy for a cellular phone, only designed to change the look of the Winamp player). The skin downloads are very small in size and only takes a minute or so, if not seconds, to download. You can alter the look of your player from anything like NASCAR to say something like Britney Spears. If you can think of it as a skin, it is probably there.
If you want an added bonus, you can download various plug-in/add-on’s to the program. These are more for graphics and fun more than anything else is. You can download things that will make a full screen visual light show on your computer that goes to the beat of the song being played to downloading a plug-in that is a game such as Asteroids or Tetris. What more can you want in a Media Player?
If you are an Mp3 collector like myself and you are looking for a decent Mp3 player that also plays other media formats, check out Winamp by Nullsoft. Even though when I got it, there was a small registration fee, Nullsoft has done away with that. So, now, the player is 100% free, which makes it that much better. Come on collectors, check it out at https://winamp.com. I can almost guarantee that it is worth the few minutes it takes to download—of course, this is just my Epinion…
It was asked of me at one time, so I will make sure I put it here. I am sure almost everyone has heard of Mp3’s, but for those of you who haven’t, I will give a brief definition. Mp3 is a type of file used for compressing music. When it comes to size and downloading, it takes approximately ¼ of the time and space needed to download a standard .wav file (another type of audio file). If you have any other questions regarding Mp3’s, please feel free to e-mail me and I will try my best to answer your questions…