Winamp is shutting down after 15 incredible years.
When MP3s were in their infancy, the software was one of the few on the market that could easily let you enjoy digital music without the hassle. Although many early adopters still prefer the program to other high-profile software, it will soon disappear from existence.
When it Winamp shutting down? AOL intends to discontinue the program on December 20. In addition to shutting down the associated web services and forums, the company is yanking the software for download. If you want to continue using it moving forward, then you’d better download a stable copy right now.
AOL said in an announcement on Wednesday:
“Winamp.com and associated web services will no longer be available past Dec. 20, 2013. Additionally, Winamp Media players will no longer be available for download … Thanks for supporting the Winamp community for over 15 years.”
Sporting the tagline “It really whips the Llama’s a**,” Nullsoft’s Winamp was the first program that allowed digital music fans to develop playlists around the music they’d ripped from CDs. The software could also play files downloaded from such controversial applications as Napster, Limewire, and Kazaa.
In addition to sporting an easy-to-use playlist and robust equalizer options, Winamp also contained a pretty nifty visualization tool that added a very trippy element to your music. Although the program may not seem like much to the younger generation, Winamp definitely helped change the way people enjoyed music on their Windows-based computers.
Although companies reportedly made offers to purchase the software over the years, the company eventually sold it to the folks over at AOL for a hefty chunk of change. Unfortunately for fans of Winamp, its new parents didn’t treat it very nicely. As a direct result, Winamp is shutting down. This writer is definitely a little sad to hear the news.
What do other fans think about Winamp shutting down? Take a look at some Twitter reactions to the announcement below. Whipping a llama’s a** will never be the same.
Fun fact: When AOL deletes the Winamp Forums ( http://t.co/WryP07QWnN ) in 30 days, they will be deleting 2.7 million posts. Million.
— Jason Scott (@textfiles) November 21, 2013
Damn, #winamp was my jam back in the day, i had sooo many different skins haha technology is constantly changing, gonna be crazy in 10 yrs
— Valentino Arteaga (@youngfuego) November 21, 2013
Winamp is shutting down this December. There goes another piece of my childhood.
— Ramya (@ramya_shankar) November 21, 2013
RIP @winamp . Bummer to hear AOL has shut down the pioneering music player. The Llama will not soon be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/0nDP1Jy37Z
— Josh Felser (@Joshmedia) November 20, 2013
And, reddit’s ode to Winamp, Blade Runner style pic.twitter.com/uagGh8t4SM
— Ketan Joshi (@ArghJoshi) November 21, 2013
Are you disappointed that Winamp is shutting down?
[Image via Wikimedia Commons]
