No reason for the slowness
 

I am sure that I will get flamed for this but I really don't see why there is such a slow startup time for winamp3. I know it has been said that because winamp3 is SO MUCH more advanced it needs more system recourses to run it. And while I agree that it is more advanced I still don't see it. I mean, why can I double click on any other program on my computer and they all pop up within a blink of the eye. Yet I sit and count the seconds for winamp3 to startup. And as far as the programs that I am using I run many VERY INTENSE audio recording programs as well as HIGH DEMANDING graphics editing programs and while the most powerful of those understandably takes a couple of secs to startup, winamp3 is nowhere near as intense as those programs.

And while I see that maybe if I had all the components that are available for it all running at the same time I would expect it to startup slower, but if none of them are running at startup then it should not take so long to startup. For the only thing running is the main program and the recourses for that shouldn't be all that great.

If all that I am doing at the moment is clicking on an mp3 file and I want to hear the mp3 using winamp3. The only thing winamp3 should do when I click on the mp3 file is open the interface and play the mp3. Now to me, that seems like it should startup quicker than I could click on the mp3 file.

I keep reading that there will be a lite version coming out with the next release and maybe that will be the answer.

Now don't get me wrong I like all the bells and whistles but the extra stuff shouldn't take a toll on the system unless they are actually called upon. And while a lite version may startup faster I still like to use the full features...

...Just not on startup.

I love winamp3 and so the answer to just stick with an older version isn’t the answer either.

I am hoping that this problem is being fixed and that the development team isn’t going to use the “you need a faster computer” cop-out. My computer is fast enough for any mp3 player, even state-of-the-art media players like winamp3.

Like I said I love winamp3 and I appreciate all the team has done so far. I hope not to offend anyone by my remarks I simply don’t see the need for the use of such resources. And if there really is no way to improve its performance then I will accept it for what it is and will continue to use it anyway. For the only problem that I have so far is the slow startup and a little conflict with the vismgr component that I mentioned in the bug list. Everything else works GREAT. Video works Very good with mpg, mpeg, avi, and even divx. And from what I see winamp3 has a very long future for itself.

Re: No reason for the slowness
 

not all programs open up in a instant, like Photoshop, autocad, inventor 4, acrobat reader, any game, and even microsoft office programs and loads of programs i haven't listed

Hmmm
 

Microsoft word, etc... The second I click them they are open, the splash screens cant even really be seen.Photoshop 7 loads within 1 second, then has to load fonts , etc.. But it actually starts up pretty damn quick. Just a thaught, either way i dont care i like winamp 3 alot, and use winamp 2 for a quick song play or kazaa

The problem is that Winamp3 is still very unoptimized. It will get better in time.

You could try disabling any components you don't use (say, for instance, you don't listen to .wma's), and that could improve the startup time. Go into your winamp3/wacs folder and delete/rename/move (your choice) any unnessecary wacs. See here for more information about wacs that are safe/unsafe to delete. http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....light=wac+list


Another option (for the immediate future) is to just leave Winamp3 open all the time, then double-clicking the mp3 should get Winamp playing immediately.

Hope this helps a little, and rest assured that they will be working on speed along with everything else as Winamp3 evolves.

-=Gonzotek=-

I don't mind giving up the few extra seconds of load time to use Winamp3. I do hope it gets faster, but i know it will, so it's just a matter of time.

I really don't want to get rid of the wac's I like to use most of them. I just think that they should not be loaded with the main program and they should wait until they are called on. as you can tell I really don't understand how winamp3 works but I would think that someting like for example the video.wac should only be an issue if I am trying to play a video. I like to play videos with winamp3 so I don't want to delete it just to make it quicker to load up.

I hope that you guys are right and the next one will be more "optimized"

Also I think it would be nice if there was a list on the winamp homepage or at least a link to a list that gave details on what they are working on for the next release.

keep us up to date without having to search through 1000's of pages on the board just to get bits and peices of things they might be working on.


thank you

oh, and by the way, The programs I run are programs like photoshop,Punch! professional home design, cool edit pro, macromedia studio, steinberg cubasis and wavelab, along with many other graphic and audio programs. and yes they do open that fast. like vbisforme said msword and any of the other ms programs from the the msoffice all open so fast that I can't even read the splash screens. I really don't have the fastest computer around though, infact its about time to upgrade again I think.

Some wacs take up resources from the moment the winamp starts, because they have some reason to be running constantly (RM-X remote control for instance), but others(video) aren't active until you are using it directly. BUT, winamp still has to run through all the wacs at startup and discover their abilities and interfaces, and the less wacs actually in the folder, the less winamp has to do. Now, maybe at some point in the future, Winamp will be smart enough to remember each wacs information(not user preferences but internal programmatic interfaces) in some kind of db/registry, but not now. So, as I said, if you want an increase in start time, that's one way to get it today.

Quote:

I hope that you guys are right and the next one will be more "optimized"

There will be more than one release, case in point: Winamp2 has had nearly 100 publicly available builds, not all of them nessecarily well optimized (some were truly buggy in fact, it happens with constant development)

Quote:

Also I think it would be nice if there was a list on the winamp homepage or at least a link to a list that gave details on what they are working on for the next release.

http://www.winamp.com/nsdn/winamp3x/news/betanews.jhtml

:D
Cheers,
-=Gonzotek=-

where is the download for the beta???

is there any idea of when a beta release will be available? I am expecting it to stay beta for a long time I guess.

ok... any idea when winamp3.01 will be out???

I also noticed that the page with the "beta news" only states things that are fixed or things that are added. Maybe I missed it but what I was looking for would be a "to-do list" that lets us know what they are working on or planning to work on.

I think if this "to-do list" was posted right up front where everyone could see it, Many of the complaints about winamp3 would stop all together. and it would put the users at ease to know that the problems that they are having are being fixed.

I think that alot of people from what I have read are loosing faith in the winamp team. I for one am not but I feel that letting us know exactly whats going on not only makes us feel better but also keeps us loyal users.

that was the key in releasing beta versions, it let us actually see what was in store for us. and while the list of things that have been fixed and added is very good it still leaves the question "what are they working on now?"

The next version should be more optimized. It does load faster, along with providing a lot of small improvements here and there.

I beleive it takes so long to load because the interface is based on XML. XML does take time to parse. Or i could be completely off the wall, which is usually true.

is there any way to speed up xml? some sort of system tweek or something? also why does is seem like such a taboo subject to ask how much longer before the next release? I think that giving people a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel would just be the right thing to do. I for one, don't really have any real problems with this version but for the people that are having major problems it seems like you are leaving those people in the dark and basically saying 'screw you if you have a problem, If you don't like it, don't use it.' MY GOD, That is a horrible way to treat people.

I understand that you may not have an exact date when the next release will be out but an estimated guess would be nice. Like can we expect it in the next month, the next few months, will it be in the next year, etc. Just some sort of idea would be nice.


I also fully understand how frustrating it can be when dealing with a bunch of whiners complaining about something that you have put allot of time and effort in creating. HOWEVER, many of the posts that I have seen have been simply an inquiry about a problem with the new version. And while this might hurt your egos it is a fact that there are problems with this version.

Many if not all the users bashing winamp3 could have been avoided if there was better communication an behalf of the development team telling the users what problems are being worked on and somewhat of an idea of when the next release will come out with those fixes.

The biggest problem I see is that a person with a problem has to search through this message board for hours to try and find a fix for a problem when they cant find it or get tired of looking they post a message hoping that a reply to there problem will answer their questions. And instead they get some smart-ass answer telling them if they don't like it then don't use it and because the program is free they have no right to try and figure out how to get it to work without errors. They have no right to ask why doesn't it work right.

What I would expect is a link on the homepage to a page on the website (not in the forums) that lists all the known problems with the new version and a status on if the problem if fixed or being worked on. A list of things that will be added to the next release. And then when we could expect to see another release. And then a link on that page could bring up a page to submit a new bug if its not listed in that list. Also from there it could link to forums that are related to troubleshooting and wish lists and so on.

Now I know that almost all that information and more is found in the forums but to be honest.... forums suck when you are looking for some information on why the product you just downloaded doesn't work right. And while I understand that it is easier to just let people figure it out in the forums it would just take a moment to create such a page and I honestly thing it would be a smart move.

While I agree that in general people are selfish ungrateful stupid mindless fools, there still needs to be some degree of professionalism in dealing with us. I apologize if I offend anyone

Because A) their first two words in the thread are, winamp3 sucks. They dont get the hint that most of the problems they are having is common and it will be fixed in the next version (WHICH they are taking their time on, so it will be good and not rushed out like the first release). And of course, all of which i have said is in the sticky threads which SO many people must be blind to miss them.

Maybe you'll understand, maybe you wont.. maybe you just need to learn how to program and then write your own media player... but then again you would most likely complain about how much c++ sucks because your program loads up slow and doesnt work the way you want it too because your a shitty ass programmer :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

oh and if you have any further gripes about the first release of winamp3 please dont bother to post them, just send them to support@aol.com

ok....you obviously missed my point....


first of all i totally support the winamp team and their work. I don't think that anything should be rushed at all. as I said I don't mean to offent anybody. all I am trying to say is that in many of the posts that don't start out "winamp3 sucks" there is still a high degree of unprofessionalism to the replies. such as yours in which you imediately turned to bashing me implying that i am complaining about winamp3 which is obviously not the case.

i will admit i am not a programmer and nor do i want to be. I have done very basic programming before and it is just way too much work for my lazy ass.

saying that, i have the highest respect for anyone that does have the ability to sit down and code for hours on end to come up with amazing programs such as winamp.
however, you don't have to get so high on your horse that when someone tells you that there are things wrong with it you feel the need to bash them.

also, when i started this thread i was trying to figure out what was causing it to load slow. my poor understanding on how it worked left me curious as why it would load up so slow.. i feel that through the kind responses of others i may have a better understanding.

thank you

also "they don't get the hint" because there isn't clear communication.

you may not beleive it but many users of winamp aren't pros at navigating through message boards and threeds and such.

i myself have never used them before anywhere. it took me a while. maybe cuz i am stupid. but either way that is why i suggested the things about a webpage that addresses these questions. it is easy to make a webpage . even dumbass me can do that. but alot of the anger in the message forum comes from ignorance.

ignorance about programming
ignorance about message boards
and ignorance about how to address concerns without offending someone.

either way those are my thoughts and if that makes you mad then i am sorry.

also what the hell is a sticky threed???


i actually can figure it out but my point is many people wont and those are the angry people.



speaking of angry people you obviously are a very angry person. i have given you no reason to get mad but yet i get attacked like i just said someting awfull about your mother.

please lighten up. you'll live longer...

my winamp 3 loads up pretty damn fast. actually faster than most other programs on my computer.

The thing is, all that takes time and Nullsoft is really a small company. Only a few people actually work on Winamp3, and I believe only 1 or 2 people are in charge of the website, and they have other responsibilities as well. So, while it might be nice for you, and me, and all the other users to know what Nullsoft are going to do next it would be even nicer to having them actually doing it, and not spending their time talking about it. The forums pretty much are self-sustaining, with experienced users at the top, moderating and providing free tech support. Actual NS employees only show up occasionally, compared to the number of posts everyday. Oh yeah, if you haven't come across the site yet, you can see a list of all the currently known bugs with Winamp at Bugzilla if you'd like.

-=Gonzotek=-

the thing is while most people here feel comfortable in using the forums. most of the winamp users don't. there is an awfull lot of helpfull information here but when people don't know how to get to it, it's kinda usless to them.

to make it the easyist way for people to find the information they are looking for, my suggestion is this...

first, instead of putting the faq's inside the winamp tab on the home page...put it in it's own tab right up front.

then, in with the faq's there should be a link to the additional faq's that are in the forum.

then, also a link in the faq's to the known bug list.

i don;t think this is too much to ask for and i beleive it would solve a ton of problems with angry people comming to the forums. because i'll tell you this the majority of the winamp users that are having problems with winamp3 don't even use the forums. and if they cant easily find an answer to their problem they will just chalk it up to being a bad program.

as most of us here know it's not a bad program, in fact it is a super program. Millions of users will mever know it. and as many of them might not even know winamp3 is out. the ones that did download it and found it didn;t work will most likely NEVER come back to see if the next version will work better.

first impressions are extreamly important.

i just feel thet you are making a big mistake by not allowing the very important information be right where most users would expect it to be. and as there will be a few people the won't even try to figure out why it doesn't work. many users would at least read through the faqs.very few will venture into the forums.

if you compare the amount of people that are using winamp to the number of people that use the forums you can see that i am right.

and although it is a free program you still need to care about the customes. otherwise it will end up only being a product for the people that use the forums and that would be a huge decline in the amount of users that use winamp2

I know that after reading the faqs and then the additional faqs that it would put most peoples mind at ease about the future of winamp3 and it states in there many very good points that should be highlited to every person that downloads winamp3. yet instead it is hidden in the dreaded forums like it is only ment for certian people.

when i first downloaded winamp3 (the final release) i had some major problems. i imediately went searching for a faq list. I eventually found the one on the website and that didn't answer anything. so i spent the next week working on how to get it to work cuz i knew it should.

I am the type of person that likes to fix things so for me it wasn't all that bad. but most people wouldn't. after i fixed almost all my problems i then came to the forums only to find many Many posts from angry people that wern't getting their questions answered.

the big reason people are angry and say such things as "winamp3 sucks" and such are because they are fustrated and they cant find answers to what are usually simple questions. and while this is no way to act and is concidered very rude, most of the responces were equally rude if not worse and even to questions that wern't rude to begin with.

just make it easy on everyone and do it the way i described and not only will most people stop being fustrated but you will also keep many more loyal users.

that is also my point... why have people continually coming in to explain answers to questions that are already answered in the faqs. i see it all the time, people saying..."go to the faq's"

exactly

the Faq in the forums is written by a member of the forums not by the person in chage of the main webpage....it is a good idea but unless somebody updates the developers about the Faqs in the forums, they would not have the time to actually do something like this


too start with some ppl dun even specify their problem, they just go and bash winamp3 just because it hangs repeatly or because a feature they like is missing. I have to agree with u that it is fustrating to use the search option only to find a whole lot of useless links. If u do want to post, do discribe ur problem as specficially as possiable...for example u could have told us ur system specs.

sometimes ppl may not agree with ur opinions...they too might feel that what ur doing is the wrong way....it is a fact of life that we have to accept...diferent ppl have different opinions. i do not disagree with ur point, i am just saying that u can't make everyone happy.