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Topic: could foobar2000 replace winamp? (Read 37925 times) previous topic - next topic
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could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #50 –
Interesting discussion. It boils down to user needs I guess. As soon as I became serious about digital music playback I found Foobar2k and it's incredible extensibility. What lured me at first however... was columns_ui and it's elegance approach and customized looks.

The problem with foobar are it's components' steep learning curves. With flexibility and power comes an intimidating learning curve that newbies are frustrated with. Windows software is most often associated with the retail-software paradigm where everything works out-of-the-box.

Is providing a foobar_newbie.exe with bundled components and configurations a step forwards or should foobar remain a community driven product with a learning curve keeping nerds in and noobs out?

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #51 –
Quote
Interesting discussion. It boils down to user needs I guess. As soon as I became serious about digital music playback I found Foobar2k and it's incredible extensibility. What lured me at first however... was columns_ui and it's elegance approach and customized looks.

The problem with foobar are it's components' steep learning curves. With flexibility and power comes an intimidating learning curve that newbies are frustrated with. Windows software is most often associated with the retail-software paradigm where everything works out-of-the-box.

Is providing a foobar_newbie.exe with bundled components and configurations a step forwards or should foobar remain a community driven product with a learning curve keeping nerds in and noobs out?


Well... I guess, everything an average user needs is already there. Actually, the only thing a newbie IMHO will need is just a brief tutorial at the first start to explain a couple of things like database. Otherwise UI is pretty intuitive - at least all I had to show to my wife (who ain't no geek) was a) what icon she has to click, b) where's album list and how to use it and c) where's equalizer. It took two minustes - and then five more to uninstall winamp. So to get that foobar_newbie distribution you just package what we already have with the tutorial(s) and make sure that they'll be displayed on the first run.

Oh... And one more reason to dump winamp: SB Audigy. Was unable to get a decent plug to convert stereo to 4 channels. But - surprise! - it comes with fb2k special...

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #52 –
The user interface is pretty easy to handle but it's the setup that causes noob headaches. I plan to write a beginners guide in Icelandic for newcomers. What beginner guides exist for foobar? I'd like a place to start. If anyones interested in doing a a translation I could write it up in english as well, share hosting and screenshots. Anyone interested?

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #54 –
It's really like asking if Snapple will replace Coke. They're both soft drinks, but they're different enough that it's a matter of taste on the part of the user.

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #55 –
IMHO, apart skins (which I'm not interested in) I think that with just a couple more features, even Foobar would be easy to use as Winamp seems to be:

1) The usual Windows way to select more than one row at a time (ctrl+ or shft+) working in the sidebar too (AL or DE or PLT)

2) An always-present-in-the-foregroud-window where to see the total of the selected files or, if you like to put it the other way, an always present window with the current selected files (something like the Playlist tree browser window)

3) The possibilty to add to the database only the files or folders I want to, when I want to. I know I can choose a path in the config but, sometimes, I'd like to load into a playlist some files to be checked or else and don't want to add them to the DB right now. That should also make easier (than now) to remove db entries.

I think that FB is a husband's player while WA feel more like a wife's one.

From a quite happy FB user.

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #56 –
I think you give a lot of Winamp users too much credit.  You can right setup guides, tutorials, fully animated help videos, they won't read it.  If it isn't exactly how they want it to look out of the box, they will get bored quickly.  If it takes any amount of time to set up, their attention spans will run short.

While Foobar might be more powerful and gooder then Winamp, Winamp still is much easier to set up and run, out of the box, in my opinion.  And what setup it does take there is plenty of documentation and help out there (a decent amount of which I wrote).  And you can write tutorials all you want, they won't read them and they will complain when you suggest they might have to read something.

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #57 –
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there is plenty of documentation and help out there (a decent amount of which I wrote).
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Can you point me to any guides/help you've written for inclusion in the [a href="http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Foobar2000]wiki[/url]?  Or of course feel free to contribute yourself! 

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #58 –
Quote
Quote
there is plenty of documentation and help out there (a decent amount of which I wrote).[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Can you point me to any guides/help you've written for inclusion in the [a href="http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Foobar2000]wiki[/url]?  Or of course feel free to contribute yourself!  [a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282561"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I believe he meant he wrote most of the winamp documentation

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #59 –
Was refering to a lot of the Winamp stuff on the forums over there.  As well as the other doumentation the other memebers and moderators compoused that gets ignored by 90% of the userbase.  And then complain when they find out they are expected to read.

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #60 –
no foobar will never replace winamp... the average user doesn't have the intellect or the patience to learn how to use foobar! the reason i chose foobar in the first place, when i actually switched from winamp, was because of its simple GUI & its modular feature system! most people use winamp for the GUI...
everybody's a jerk. you, me, this jerk!

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #61 –
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most people use winamp for the GUI...

...which is actually quite ugly and IMO much harder to use than foobar's for a newbie.

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #62 –
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While Foobar might be more powerful and gooder then Winamp, Winamp still is much easier to set up and run, out of the box, in my opinion.[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282502"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

All it takes to install and set up foobar2000 is running the installer. How could that possibly be any easier?
A riddle is a short sword attached to the next 2000 years.

could foobar2000 replace winamp?

Reply #63 –
Running a program and making it do what you want are two diffrent things.

If someone wants skins they have to run more then the installer.  It someone wants some fancy title formatting, they have to run more then the installer.  If someone wants to butn a CD, they need to install more stuff.  Why is it not reading my file names/tags properly (which I see a lot with Winamp).  If it comes right down to it, if a program doesn't read the user's mind and run exactly how they want it when they install it, they will complain.

All programs (should) run fine by installing them.  But having them do exactly what you want are is something diffrent.

I have very little faith in the average end-user.