What is Winamp5?
Winamp5 is the current working name for a Winamp 2.X and Winamp3 hybrid player. Information can be found in the thread entitled Winamp 2.9, Winamp3, and the future

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This version will integrate Winamp 3 skin and script support into the Winamp 2.x platform. This will allow users who do not wish to have complex freeform skins to use classic Winamp skin(s), with the full performance of Winamp 2.x. Those who wish to use more advanced Winamp3 skins can do so as well. The integration will be seamless.
Initially this version of Winamp will not support Wasabi components. That may or may not change as we go forward, we have yet to see how worthwhile that will be. We have and will be extending Winamp 2.x's plug-in architecture greatly to allow much of the same functionality that can be accomplished with Wasabi).
We also plan on adding CD ripping and burning capability for this release.
We are aiming to release this version sometime (read: towards the end of) this summer (2003).

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Brennan's .plan | Justin's .plan

Has development stopped on Winamp3?
No, development is still progressing on Winamp3. Just at a slower rate while other programmers are being reassigned to Winamp 2.X and the Winamp 2.X and Winamp3 hybrid. Future Developer and Public builds are still expected for Winamp3.

Is Winamp 2.X being ditched?
Winamp5 is just more updates to the Winamp 2.X core. It is an update to Winamp 2.X, not a replacement. It is a natural update like how Winamp 1.9X to Winamp 2.0 was. The extra features in Winamp5 will still be plugins and can be selected to not be installed.

Will there still be a Linux version?
A Linux version of Winamp3 is still planed. Winamp5 will (probably) not be ported to Linux since it isn't based on the cross-platform Wasabi Interface. The Winamp3 Linux Build might take a while though. Currently the Win32 and Linux code for Winamp3 are being merged into the same tree.

Is Winamp5 the final name?
Maybe, probably. It's just the current working name. The actual name is up to the developers when the time comes.

When will Winamp5 be released?
As much as people are sick of it the release still stands "when it is finished." In the current Beta state it is hard to give a decent time estimate, though final release is still a few months off.

Will my plug-ins and skins still work?
All Winamp 2.X skins and plug-ins will still work in Winamp5 because it is still the Winamp 2.X core. All existing language packs will unfortunately become incompatible with the new version due to the amount of changes made to the strings through out Winamp.

Why Pro?
In forthcoming versions of Winamp, new features are going to be optionally included which need to be paid for on a per copy basis. As Winamp gets a lot of downloads, it is not viable for Nullsoft to pay for this themselves.

What will I gain from getting Winamp Pro?
Currently you will be able to:

• Encode MP3
  
• Rip CDs at full speed
  
• Burn CDs at full speed

Also, in the future other Pro features will be added, for which your Winamp Pro key will work. (Things like DVD Playback, hopefully )

What will I lose from sticking with regular Winamp?
Nothing!
Indeed, you will gain the ability to Rip and Burn CDs at slow speeds, as well as all the other new features in Winamp 5.

I already have a good free CD Ripper/Burner, do I have to have CD Ripping/Burning in Winamp?
No. In the installer, under Audio File Support you can uncheck what you don't want.

Why do I have to pay for MP3 encoding when it uses LAME which is free and open source?
Even though LAME is open source, Nullsoft has to pay per copy to Thompson for a licence to encode MP3. Thompson only offer MP3 encoding licences on a per-copy basis, so unfortunatly it has to be only included in the Pro version.

I paid for the shareware version of Winamp a while back before it went free, why do I have to pay again?
Because this is Winamp Pro. If you paid for the Winamp shareware you can still use Winamp, there is no pressure to upgrade.

Remember, it costs Nullsoft for every single Winamp Pro licence. If Nullsoft could do Winamp Pro for free, they would.

Winamp 2.92 and Winamp 2.95 had free, full speed CD Ripping, what gives?
They were leaked versions never intended for public consumption. This is the reason that they were illegal leaks.