In mid-September we talked about the return of Winamp in the form of a leaked beta. That beta upgraded it to version 5.8, and included minor tweaks that removed abandoned features and replaced codecs. For security reasons, Radionomy decided to review and redistribute the build, leaving it as the final version 5.8.3660. That means we should revive skins with almost two decades floating around the Web. The staff at Majorgeeks shared the Winamp Skins collection, with more than 150 compatible skins, and they are a real nostalgia bomb.
Our readers responded with enthusiasm to the return of Winamp, remembering old times and naming some replacements. There are very good players on the Web, available for free and with more functions. However, the truth is that Winamp never completely disappeared. In fact, it is estimated that its user base is about 100 million, not bad for a build whose last stable version dates back to 2013. The appearance of 5.8 beta made many people happy, and since then we wonder why it didn't start circulating earlier. Several secure portals took care of offering mirrors, but the risk of an infected installer exists. Radionomy took the beta, verified it, and presented it as the final 5.8.3660 version. What comes next? Winamp Skins!
Winamp Skins: It's Not Winamp Unless You Change the Skin
Finding skins for Winamp isn't very complicated, to say the least, but the folks at Majorgeeks took the trouble to share a compilation. The official post talks about 160 skins, although some are duplicated. The formats are still the same as always, WAL and WSZ, meaning you don't necessarily need to have the latest build. If you prefer to stick with Winamp 5.666 or use the 2.9x builds downloaded from OldVersion.com, these skins should work without issues. Some designs definitely scream "the '90s" in every direction, trying to imitate old audio equipment or displaying a color palette that burns the eyes. Loading certain skins isn't always perfect, but I didn't find major errors either.
And talking about loading, for these Winamp skins to appear in the player, we just need to copy them into the 'Skins' folder and restart the player. Right-clicking anywhere on the interface opens the context menu, and under the Skins category we'll see all the entries. If you still use Winamp, I imagine you'll find something interesting to customize it.
