One of the most popular media players of all-time, Winamp is all-set to shut shop. Winamp has put up a small but prominent notice on its website stating that the program won’t be available for download starting December 21, 2013. The last stable release of the software would remain version 5.66. There will not be any updates after that and worse – you would not be even able to download this last version from the Winamp website post December 20 – because they will shut down the website as well. Here is what the notice states.
“Winamp.com and associated web services will no longer be available past December 20, 2013. Additionally, Winamp Media players will no longer be available for download. Please download the latest version before that date. Thanks for supporting the Winamp community for over 15 years.”
The end for WinAmp comes over 15 years after its initial release. The company was famously taken over by AOL back in 1999 in the midst of the Dotcom boom for a princely $80 million. For many, this takeover by AOL spelt doom for the player. While Winamp maintained its supremacy for most of the mid 2000’s it was gradually overshadowed by the likes of iTunes, Pandora and Spotify. As of today, Winamp still boasts of a sizable – but fast waning userbase. Winamp graduated to Android version of the App as well. This is what the Winamp tag line looks like today.
“One part genius. Three parts llama. And a sprinkling of corporate AOL. That’s what Winamp is all about.”
Winamp’s exit marks the end of an era and its loyalists aren’t a happy lot. A screenshot from the Winamp Facebook page – which boasts of over 90,000 likes looks like this.
You do have a month before you can download and try the application before Winamp relegates itself into the annals of history. As a 90’s kid, I too have had my share of memories with Winamp – although I was far from being a hardcore user. Anyway, it’s sad to see something that has been so common, go away for ever.
