Memory Usage:
WMP - 8776k
iTunes - 43368k
Winamp - 7264k
Playing song
WMP - 21328k
iTunes - 45772k
Winamp - 23114k
WMP + 1
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First Run:
WMP - Very quick. Very simple. It sets up and scans your library within 10 minutes or at least on my machine.
iTunes - Slow. To finish installsion it took about 10 minutes then to finish all its initial scans took another 15 almost.
Winamp. As as WMP. Done everything in about 10 minutes.
WMP/Winamp + 0.5
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Plugins:
WMP - Has a good number of plugins ranging from visual to effects to codecs.
iTunes - Very very slime pickings for plugins. Mostly visual.
Winamp - A large community of developers. 100’s of them.
Winamp +1
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Skins :
WMP - Has a selection. Not a good selection but a selection none the less.
iTunes - SUCKS FOR SKINNING! There are a handful of skins and all they do is change the color.
Winamp - A huge number of skins! Many are great and can totally change the way you use the program.
Winamp +1
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HotKeys
WMP - Can’t add custom keys but will use the media controls on your keyboard
iTunes - Will also use the media controls on your keyboard, but only when the program is in focus!
Winamp - Uses media keys plus allows the creation of custom keys.
Winamp +1
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Sharing Media
WMP/iTunes - Both simple to use and share.
Winamp - Can only do it with a plugin and even then its horrible.
WMP/iTunes - 0.5
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Playlists:
WMP - Handles them nicely. Very simple. Allows you to save them in several different formats.
iTunes - Can only save it in the single format iTunes uses. Not as nicely done as WMP or WA
Winamp - Very simple, just like WMP. It also allows your to save them out in a few different forms.
WMP/WA + 0.5
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Video:
They all suck. Get VLC or MPlayer.
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Layout:
WMP - This is hot. The default skin for WMP 11 is beautiful. I love it. Also the way the library is handle is very different from WA or iT. You can sort the music much like in WA or iT but unlike them which just reorders the list, WMP gives you a totally different view. I don’t know if this is a good thing. I suppose they were trying to set themselves apart from the rest of the field and they did exactly that. I personally really really like it.It actually makes it worth having all that album art!
Album view
Song view
iTunes - It works. Its simple, but I don’t care for it. Its too simple. The default nav is just to blah, but the new views they’ve added are nice (almost exactly like WMP :O ) but don’t work very well due to the stupid bottom bar and the ugly header bar that just can’t be hidden.
WinAmp - The layout of the program is really good in my opinion. You can move the separate parts anywhere you want, hide parts you don’t need, and its very clean and simple with enough options in the open that you don’t need to dig through menus to get at everything.
My layout
WMP/Winamp + 0.5
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Final Scores:
WMP - 4
iTunes - 0.5
Winamp - 4.5
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Overview
WMP 11 is very good. A HUGE improvement. And even though Winamp has more points (only 0.5!) I would recommend trying WMP 11. If it suits your personal taste go for it! It is just as good if not better if you ignore the skins and plugins. I am personally going to continue to us both winamp and WMP 11 for the next week or soon until I figure out which I like more. I though doing this test would put both programs through enough hoops that one would walk out on top, but alas, no.
As for iTunes, the ONLY reason I can see anyone using this program is that they are too set in their ways already, have an iPod or are just to lazy to get winamp with the ipod plugin :P (which I image/hope will be out for WMP soon)
So I came in using Winamp and am walking away using Winamp and WMP until I can settle on one. I hope this helps everyone that reads it find the media player of your choice.
