AOL backtracks on Winamp

Thanks Moparx. America Online's celebrated Nullsoft division is taking a page out of Coca-Cola's playbook, reviving a "classic" version of its flagship Winamp MP3 player amid widespread criticism of the latest rendition of the software.

Nullsoft released Winamp3 last year, offering an ambitious reworking of its popular MP3 player based on a homegrown programming language called Wasabi. The upgrade aimed to convert the slim Winamp multimedia program into a full-fledged system capable of running Wasabi-based applications on its own. But the upgrade was dogged by complaints that it was slow and bloated, and it never took off with Winamp's core followers, many of whom reverted to older versions of the product.

In a setback to Nullsoft's plans, Winamp3 in March gave way to the earlier Winamp 2.x version, pending a broader overhaul that will incorporate aspects of both in Winamp 5. In the meantime, AOL has discontinued supporting plug-ins developed using Wasabi and will instead fold Winamp3 graphical interface designs, or "skins," into Winamp 2.x.

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