Would you buy a computer to use Winamp? Or, perhaps more fair today: would you switch OSs to use it?

No way. I use Amarok at home and love it. At work I have to use Windows, and used to be happy with iTunes - until I started having to update it every week (60MB download, no I don't want Safari, no I don't want to see the Quicktime icon, I'll check the box asking not to be propmted when there's a new version - oh, you're going to tell me anyway). Anyway, I thought I'd try Winamp again (I used it about seven years ago and liked it) - it doesn't seem capable of playing a CD without crashing. If anyone can recommend a free and/or open source media player for Windows I'd be grateful.

What version of Winamp did you use? There is a golden version: 2.91. Everything above is a perversion.

http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=winamp

I bought an iPod a few years back just because it has, in firmware, a program just like WinAMp that let me play CDs I ripped to my hard drive as well as stuff I could download from the Internet.

Is that close enough?

No, but I do run a Windows machine just for Winamp.

I have friends that do the same and I've also seen a number of restaurants in Vancouver (Rugby Club), Montreal (Bières et Compagnie), and Haifa (Stella's?) that use it too (among other places).

Or (dare I say it out loud)... Porn.

Worked for VCRs....

Again, would you BUY a computer to view porn?

Maybe not a computer, but I have it on good authority that a LOT of young males got internet access for porn, especially broadband internet access. The porn industry was streaming video on the net way before YouTube.

Interesting. I wonder why this is downmodded. It seem remarkably apropos to the discussion.