iTunes Alternatives[Windows]
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:48 AM
Foobar2000
A kind of player that focuses more on functionality and efficiency over fancy graphics, and utilizes a familiar column and row layout that can be altered in any way you wish. You can map shortcuts, create playlists, and browse your music in a tree structure for easy access. It has a lightweight plugin system that uses “Components” to provide extra functionality. These are nothing more than DLL files, so they won’t bog down the app.
Foobar can be minimalistic and simple when it needs to be, but it also gives you access to an incredible amount of settings and modifications with a few clicks.
FOR: Incredibly Fast and customizable,Functionality.
AGAINST:Simple UI,No sync feature.
VERDICT:Good for those who want a light media player with great functionality.
Winamp
Winamp can sync with all of Apple’s non-touch screen iPods, from the Classic and Nano to the Shuffle. There is a plugin available that attempts to enable support for some iPod Touches on older firmware, and it’s worth a shot.
Winamp is highly customizable, and has thousands of skins and plugins available, perfect for power users. It does everything iTunes can do and more, including downloading podcasts, lyrics, and integration with the 7digital music store. If you have a massive music library and want full control, then Winamp is the manager for you.But, all of this comes at a price. The program is full of badware, and tries to install toolbars and other useless features on your system. .
FOR:Highly customizable,good themes.
AGAINST:Highly priced($19.95),Full of badware.
VERDICT:A good media player more powerful than iTunes.
Media Monkey
Media Monkey is similar to Winamp, but focuses more on managing your audio with powerful tagging and media scraping abilities. It has support for skins and plugins, but nowhere near the amount that Winamp or Foobar has. The interface is pretty cluttered, so if you’re looking for something minimalistic, this is not it. The application has an overwhelming amount of buttons and menus that make it difficult to navigate.
FOR:Good tagging system,Plays large no. of formats,Syncs with every iDevice(Except iPhone 4).
AGAINST:Cluttered Interface.Pricey
VERDICT:The best audio manager out there in the market.
AND THE WINNER IS: Mediamonkey as it has the ability to sync with all of your iDevices(except iPhone 4).