The Winamp 5 Beta and PRO FAQ

[Sawg]

The Winamp 5 Development FAQ

What is Winamp 5?

What is Winamp 5?
Winamp 5 is the current working name for a Winamp 2.X and Winamp3 hybrid player. Information can be found in the thread entitled Winamp 2.9, Winamp3, and the future

This version will integrate Winamp 3 skin and script support into the Winamp 2.x platform. This will allow users who do not wish to have complex freeform skins to use classic Winamp skin(s), with the full performance of Winamp 2.x. Those who wish to use more advanced Winamp3 skins can do so as well. The integration will be seamless.
Initially this version of Winamp will not support Wasabi components. That may or may not change as we go forward, we have yet to see how worthwhile that will be. We have and will be extending Winamp 2.x's plug-in architecture greatly to allow much of the same functionality that can be accomplished with Wasabi).
We also plan on adding CD ripping and burning capability for this release.
We are aiming to release this version sometime (read: towards the end of) this summer (2003).

Brennan's .plan | Justin's .plan

Has development stopped on Winamp3?
Yes. Winamp3 is no more. There will be some minor background development on Wasabi Player, but don't expect anything from that any time soon.

Is Winamp 2.X being ditched?
Winamp 5 is just more updates to the Winamp 2.X core. It is an update to Winamp 2.X, not a replacement. It is a natural update like how Winamp 1.9X to Winamp 2.0 was. The extra features in Winamp 5 will still be plugins and can be selected to not be installed.

Is Winamp3 1.X being ditched?
Yup. It's dead and will no longer be supported with the final release of 5.0.

Will there still be a Linux version?
Winamp 5 will (probably) not be ported to Linux, ever/ There is a slight possability of a WA3 Linux port, though don't count on it.

Is Winamp 5 the final name?
Yup.

General Information

When will Winamp 5 be released?
Soon!

Will my plug-ins and skins still work?
All Winamp 2.X skins and plug-ins will still work in Winamp 5 because it is still the Winamp 2.X core. All existing language packs will unfortunately become incompatible with the new version due to the amount of changes made to the strings through out Winamp.

Winamp 5 Forums

Where can we discuss Winamp 5?
Winamp 2 Discussion

Where can we request features?
Winamp 5 Wishlist

Where can I report bugs?
This thread.

When will Winamp 5 get it's own forums?
Since Winamp 5 is an upgrade to Winamp 2.X (unlike Winamp3 being a separate product) upon (or near) release the Winamp 2.X forums will most likely be renamed to serve Winamp 5. Winamp 2.X will no longer have its own forums.

Releases

Where can I download the current release?
The current release is Winamp 5.0 Release Candidate 8. Download and discussion.

[will]

Winamp Pro

Why Pro?
In forthcoming versions of Winamp, new features are going to be optionally included which need to be paid for on a per copy basis. As Winamp gets a lot of downloads, it is not viable for Nullsoft to pay for this themselves.

What will I gain from getting Winamp Pro?
Currently you will be able to:

• Encode MP3
• Rip CDs at full speed
• Burn CDs at full speed

Also, in the future other Pro features will be added, for which your Winamp Pro key will work. (Things like DVD Playback, hopefully )

What will I lose from sticking with regular Winamp?
Nothing!
Indeed, you will gain the ability to Rip and Burn CDs at slow speeds, as well as all the other new features in Winamp 5.

I already have a good free CD Ripper/Burner, do I have to have CD Ripping/Burning in Winamp?
No. In the installer, under Audio File Support you can uncheck what you don't want.

Why do I have to pay for MP3 encoding when it uses LAME which is free and open source?
Even though LAME is open source, Nullsoft has to pay per copy to Thompson for a licence to encode MP3. Thompson only offer MP3 encoding licences on a per-copy basis, so unfortunatly it has to be only included in the Pro version.

I paid for the shareware version of Winamp a while back before it went free, why do I have to pay again?
Because this is Winamp Pro. If you paid for the Winamp shareware you can still use Winamp, there is no pressure to upgrade.

Remember, it costs Nullsoft for every single Winamp Pro licence. If Nullsoft could do Winamp Pro for free, they would.

Winamp 2.92 and Winamp 2.95 had free, full speed CD Ripping, what gives?
They were leaked versions never intended for public consumption. This is the reason that they were illegal leaks.

I give in, I need winamp pro in my life, where can a buy it and how much will it cost?
You can't buy it just yet, wait until the new website comes into force. As far as costs go, we just don't know, but it won't be too much, as it is just to cover the licencing costs of the new technology.

I found/made a crack/keygen for winamp pro, what do I do?
Send mail to /dev/null, they might care more than we do. Of course, if you post links to anything like that on the forums, your post will be edited, and will be banned. If you made the crack/keygen yourself, then you need to come to terms with your total social inadequacy and move away from your computer.