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Filed under: Audio, Windows

Add Windows 7 shell integration features to Winamp with a handy plugin

Winamp has always been one of my favorite media players. One of its best features is its extensibility. Thanks to an enthusiastic developer community, there are tons of great plugins that let you personalize Winamp to your liking.

Like many mainstream apps, Winamp doesn't yet take advantage of Windows 7 shell enhancements like jumplists,
thumbnail preview player controls (a la Windows Media player), or taskbar progress indication. Fortunately, an independent developer has hacked together a plugin that adds them all in one fell swoop.

Win7shell adds all the missing goodness. To the default Windows 7 jumplist (which supports pinning playlists and individual tracks) It adds a list of recently played items. Playback progress is also indicated on the taskbar button, and the thumbnail preview gets playback controls and customizable overlays. You can also add status overlays to the taskbar button (pictured below).

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Filed under: Audio, Windows, Commercial, Freeware

Winamp revs up discovery features in new release

Years ago when I was first using Napster on a then blazing-fast dual-channel ISDN connection, WinAmp was my media player of choice. It's come a long way since the early days, and gone from being used by those in the know to the go-to player of more than 84 million people worldwide.

When I finally updated from my trusty old RCA Lyra to an iPod Touch, I quickly downloaded WinAmp again and let it go to work on my library. Autotagging, organizing, and syncing was a breeze.

Tonight, version 5.5.6 arrives and brings with it beefed up discovery and social features thanks to the Orgler plugin. Orgler has been available separately since May, but it's now included as part of the main WinAmp download.

Similar to Last.fm scrobbling, the plugin keeps tabs on your listening and allows WinAmp to provide discovery features. Tracks you play are automatically added to your AOL Music profile page (here's mine - keep in mind I only activated the Orgler this morning). Streaming tracks aren't currently supported, though that will likely appear in future releases. Don't feel like sharing? It's not required, so just change your options in the Orgler preferences.

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Office, Productivity, Freeware, Windows x64

Easily install popular programs after a reformat with Smart Installer Pack

At work, I usually either use a drive imaging program to load the operating system and applications onto a machine. If I'm reformatting a customer's machine, I use WPI (Windows Post Installer) to silently install programs. At home, however, I'm a little less cautious when I reformat and often forget to back up my program installers.

That's when something like the Smart Installer Pack might come in handy. It's a pre-packed set of popular applications that you'd likely want to install on your own system (or a friend's) after a fresh format.

It includes a host of apps like Firefox, Chrome, OpenOffice, Winamp, Skype, Daemon Tools, Picasa, Winamp, Thunderbird, Adobe Reader and Flash, WinRar, Rocket Dock, CCleaner, and more. Everything downloads in a single file, so you won't be cluttering up your drive with a bunch of separate installers.

SIP has two drawbacks. First, the installers are interactive, not silent, so you'll have to click through manually. Second, there are a few apps I'd normally install instead - like 7zip and Sumatra PDF. Shortcomings aside, this is still a handy way to get a system up and running quickly with a solid group of commonly-used programs.

Filed under: Audio, Video, Windows, Freeware

MiniTube Winamp plugin adds YouTube videos to your playlist

MiniTube
MiniTube is a plugin for WinAmp that attempts to find music videos from YouTube for every song in your playlist. Here's how it's supposed to work: A song starts to play, and MiniTube will automatically find the best music video available for the song and start playing it. That's the theory anyway. But the actual practice is a bit shakier.

That's because MiniTube just grabs the first video it can find that roughly matches the song's metadata. That means there's a pretty decent chance you'll get the wrong video from the right artist, a video of an amateur musicians performing the correct song, or something else entirely. Sometimes MiniTube will find the right video, but if the metadata on your MP3s is anything less than perfect, more often than not, it won't.

MiniTube does address one potential problem fairly well. Because the audio of the YouTube video will undoubtedly be out of synch with the audio file, you can choose to either play your audio file and mute the audio on the video, or mute Winamp and play the audio and video from the YouTube video.

[via gHacks]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

AllSnap brings your Windows applications together - literally

AllSnapSometimes you want to look at several programs on your Windows desktop at the same time. So you resize Firefox, Word, Excel, and whatever else it is you're using, and then spend about 5 minutes trying to line them up to maximize your screen real estate. The whole process would be a lot easier if programs would just sort of snap together at the edges, wouldn't it?

AllSnap is a utility that lets you snap program windows together much the same way different parts of the music program Winamp snap together. We last looked at AllSnap more than two years ago. Since then, the developer has added an experimental x64 version, and added a "snap to grid" feature.

By selecting snap to grid, you can snap windows not just snugly against one another, but you can snap them to invisible lines on your Windows desktop, making it easier to line up applications that might not actually be touching. After all this talk of snapping, if you're still not clear what the heck we're talking about, check out the demo video after the jump.

[via gHacks]

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Filed under: Audio, Utilities, Video, Windows

VLC Media Player can be pretty, too

Use Winamp skins for VLCLove VLC Media Player's ability to play virtually all media but hate that it does not caress your media with a beautiful frame carved from Italian marble? Fear no more. Although we're fans of the no-frills design, those of you who are more exacting will be pleased to know that the large library of Winamp skins are all compatible with VLC.

This is how the magic works: Go to 'Settings' select 'Switch interface' then 'Skins 2.' You will then be greeted by a VLC that may be unfamiliar, but don't worry. Right-click somewhere on the frame, 'Select Skin' and open away. After experimenting with a few skins we found that most of them work fine, except that some had visual artifacts that may not appear if you were to use them in Winamp.

VLC does have a nasty tendency of resetting itself back to normal when you restart the application, so in order to prevent that, under 'Preferences' > 'Interfaces' > 'Main Interface' > 'Skins' select 'Advanced Options' and make sure the 'Skin to use' is the one you like.

And if you decide you don't like Winamp skins, you might want to sample the selection at the VLC skins page.

[via Lifehacker]

Filed under: Internet, Web services

Download old versions of new applications

Mozilla Firebird .7
Here at Download Squad we're always installing the latest and greatest version of whatever software we can get our hands on. But you know what? Sometimes there are more problems and solutions in those updates. And sometimes we get nostalgic for the early days of Winamp 2 or Nero 5.

It turns out there are plenty of places to download old versions of newer software. If you've got a computer in the house that's still running Windows 95, we can help you out.

filehippo

Filehippo is a great site for finding freeware applications. Recently updated and popular applications are featured prominently at the top of the site. But when you click on a software title, there's also a little box on the right-hand side of the screen that lets you download previous versions. This is great if you download a new version and later decide to roll back.

OldApps, OldVersions.com and Old-Versions.net

As the names would suggest, these are three sites that feature old versions of software. There's a mix of commercial, shareware, and freeware at each site. So if you're going to try downloading an old version of Cool Edit, thinking you won't need a license key, think again.

OldApps, OldVersion.com and Old-Versions.net all include a nice array of software. Some titles like iTunes are available one each site, while others, like BSplayer are only on one or two of the sites, so you might need to dig around a bit to find what you're looking for. And while each site has a "most popular" list, different programs top the list on each site.

Filed under: Audio, News, Windows, Freeware

Winamp 5.31

WinampI am a long time fan of Winamp and its llama-whipping goodness, but ever since Windows Media Player 11 beta came out I have been using it since it has a bunch of new features and is much better organized than previous versions. Winamp has taken a back-seat to WMP11 at least little bit. I am still a hardcore Winamp fan, and the latest release of Winamp 5.31 is no exception. I can't decide if I am a fan of the new features like included internet TV and radio, but it stays out of the way if you want it to. Two new features of Winamp are worth a look. Winamp Remote, and Winamp Dashboard. Remote is somewhat like Vibe Streamer, letting you access your Winamp music library from anywhere on the web, and Dashboard is a way to add online video and other feeds to your winamp, finally bringing personalized content to the player. Both features are in beta, so look out for bugs, though they seemto work okay for me. Dashboard is a portal of sorts, but helpful in some ways. I like remote, cause you can stream your whole music collection online, which means that every PC in your house can play music from it. I still like VIbe Streamer a bit better, but Winamp remote is not a bad first offering. Sweet tunes, baby.

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Freeware

Foobar 2000 - alternative audio player for Windows

Foobar 2000 audio playerIf you're not happy with your options for playing audio content in Windows, like Windows Media Player, iTunes or WinAmp, you might be interested in trying Foobar 2000. Foobar 2000 is "an advanced audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include full unicode support, ReplayGain support and native support for several popular audio formats.", although rather than tout it as an advanced player, I think it would be more accurate to pitch it as a pared down player that does what it does well. You're not going to get the glitz of the other media players mentioned, but Foobar does include support for add-in components, so its functionality can always be built upon.

Filed under: Fun, Security, Windows, Open Source

TunnelVision: Security through obscurity

TunnelVisionPlease pardon the pun in the title. TunnelVision is a quirky little privacy app from Winamp creator Justin Frankel's Cockos, Inc. It lets you hide everything on your screen except the space around the cursor. Imagine your desktop is a pitch black room and your cursor the beam of a flashlight and you'll have an idea of what using TunnelVision is like. I honestly can't say whether TunnelVision is actually a useful privacy tool or just a novelty. It could certainly be used as a fun prank to play on co-workers. TunnelVision allows you to configure the size of your "tunnel" (the default is teensy) as well as the color, in case you prefer, say, hot pink over pitch black. TunnelVision is open source and a tiny 30kb download including the source code.

Filed under: Audio, Windows

Tweaks for Winamp power users

WinampI'll admit it, I used to be a Winamp snob. For years Winamp was by far the best Windows audio player available, and not too long ago the sight of any other app-usually Windows Media Player-on a friend's desktop would send me into a fugue. Okay, not really, but you get the idea. Nowadays Winamp's competitors have brought up the rear, but there are still things Winamp can do that the major players can't, and those who are still wild about its functionality should check out this Winamp Tweak Guide from TechSpot. Though some real power-users might say "so what?", it has some good tips on settings and plugins for intermediate users looking to move up to the next level.

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Freeware

AjaxAMP: Slick web-based Winamp control and streaming

AjaxAMPWeb-based interfaces for Winamp are as old as time itself, but that doesn't prevent new ones from coming out occasionally, and AjaxAMP looks like a pretty good specimen. It's a plugin for Winamp that lets you do what you'd expect: control Winamp via a web browser with an Ajaxy interface. It features drag-and-drop playlists and a rearrangeable (though not skinnable) interface, and it can stream music over the web to any computer. It's also free and, at 445kb, a nice and small download.

Filed under: Audio, Video, Windows, Freeware, Open Source

Portable VLC and Winamp

Portable Winamp and VLCEverything's portable! This week saw the release of not one, but two popular Windows media players in portable form. First is Portable VLC from PortableApps.com. Based on the excellent open source media player VLC, I can't imagine a better way to watch videos on the go. Second is Portable Winamp 5.1 Lite with iPod support. The "Lite" means it includes the bare-bones audio player, eschewing video, media library, "modern" skin support, and so on, but as the name implies it'll connect to your iPod. Portable VLC is a 7.2MB download while Winamp is a scant 1.2MB.

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