Winamp
Classic Windows desktop music player, first released in 1997.
HN commenters like Winamp for its tiny memory footprint and quick loading,12 and because it remains a perfectly usable player, with even 90s versions running fine on Windows 11.34 The main caveat is that it is seen as long dead,5 and Linux users had to rely on clones like xmms and bmp that also faded away.6
Why people recommend it
Lightweight · 2
Commenters cite very low memory use and fast startup compared with modern streaming apps.
“I run actual Winamp for my music streaming, and windows task manager claims it's using 4.1 MB.”
“Winamp in 1998 took about 2 seconds to load.”
Still works · 2
Old versions still run on Windows 11 and it remains a valid player today.
“which works great with WinAmp (even the old versions from the 90s still run fine in Windows 11)”
“WinAmp has been dead for centuries but it's still a perfectly valid player”
Nostalgic appeal · 2
Fondly remembered as a cool player that people missed after switching platforms.
“Winamp was pretty cool.”
“I tabbed over to Winamp to change the music”
Caveats and dissent
Development status · 1
Commenters describe Winamp as long dead.
“WinAmp has been dead for centuries but it's still a perfectly valid player”
No Linux version · 1
A Linux user turned to Winamp-like clones such as xmms and bmp, which also died.
“Winamp was pretty cool.”
Often compared with
Threads where it came up
- Fastpotify 1 mention
- New Mac mini, featuring M6 and M5 Pro 1 mention
- CodePen 2.0 1 mention
- The lost joy of music piracy 1 mention
- A retro terminal music player inspired by Winamp 1 mention
- 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player 1 mention
Also written as WinAmp. Data: winamp.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 6
“I run actual Winamp for my music streaming, and windows task manager claims it's using 4.1 MB.”
“Winamp in 1998 took about 2 seconds to load.”
“WinAmp has been dead for centuries but it's still a perfectly valid player”
“I tabbed over to Winamp to change the music”
“Winamp was pretty cool.”
“which works great with WinAmp (even the old versions from the 90s still run fine in Windows 11)”