Radionomy released Winamp 5.8 beta (build 3660) on October 18, 2018. It was the first new Winamp build in years, and it came a few weeks after an older 5.8 beta build leaked online in September 2018.
Radionomy, the company that bought Winamp from AOL, published the build itself rather than leave users with the leaked copy.
What’s new in Winamp 5.8 beta
- Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 compatibility: the player was updated to run properly on newer versions of Windows.
- Winamp Pro is gone: the features that used to need a paid Pro licence are free, so Winamp became fully freeware again.
- The classic player you know: the interface, skins and plug-in model carry over from Winamp 5.666.
Some old features were missing. Winamp’s own support page notes that the CDDB (CD track lookup) feature of 5.6.x and earlier is not in 5.8, and the old Online Services views were removed.
How to install Winamp 5.8 beta
- Close Winamp if it is running.
- Run the 5.8 installer over your existing Winamp 5.x installation.
- Choose the components you want, such as the media library and file associations, and finish setup.
- Open Help > About Winamp to confirm the version and build number.
Because it was a beta, back up your Winamp settings folder first if you rely on custom plug-ins. If the player misbehaves after the upgrade, you can run Winamp in safe mode to rule out a broken plug-in.
Winamp 6 plans
On October 15, 2018, Radionomy CEO Alexandre Saboundjian said a new Winamp, then called Winamp 6, would arrive in 2019. Version 5.8 was the bridge to it. AOL had announced the end of Winamp back in 2013, and many users had kept the last Winamp version installed ever since, so 5.8 was the first sign in years that the player was still alive.
Today
Winamp 5.8 never got a final release. Winamp 5.9 followed on September 9, 2022, built with Visual Studio 2019, with Windows 11 support, high-resolution audio and HTTPS stream playback, and Windows 7 SP1 as the minimum. Version 5.9.1 came in December 2022 and 5.9.2 in 2023. The “Winamp 6” idea became an online platform launched in April 2023, and Radionomy is now Llama Group. In September 2024 the company published part of the Windows source code under a restrictive licence, then deleted the repository in October 2024 after criticism. If you just want a modern player, see our pick of the best music players for Windows 11.
