However, since Winamp is primarily an offline software, you can continue to use it, just make sure you download and keep a copy of the installer safely backed up and tucked away, although I’m sure there will be a million sites out there from which you could continue to download the installer, even if the official source shuts down. Updates aren’t too big an issue since Winamp users are accustomed to getting very rare updates, maybe once a year. However, the death of official support could mean that Winamp users may be left out in the cold if incompatibilities with any future versions of Windows should arise. One way this could be dealt with is if the Winamp source code is released, although considering AOL’s background, that seems unlikely.

 

Winamp still remains one of the most popular music players on desktops but ever since the advent of the iPod and iTunes and the more recent emergence of streaming players like Spotify, user share has dipped. In 2004, Nullsoft, the developer of Winamp, was bought by AOL for $80 million. Even now, Winamp is said to generate about $6 million of revenue annually for AOL, so the reason behind the decision to shut it down remains a strange one.