Amarok

Okay, Windows users, I'm about to tell you why you should consider at least giving Linux a try.

So you want to play music in Windows. Let's say you want to play mp3's. On a new system, your options are Windows Media Player, included pay-for-use software installed on your system without your consent, or downloaded programs like Billy (which is a nice nearly footprint-free download) or Winamp (which is getting more bloated with each release).

But if you ran Linux, you could download free, open source Amarok!

I'm running Ubuntu, I have been for a couple of months now. While I keep Windows handy in a (free) VMWare session, I find myself using it less and less.

In the meantime, I have discovered incredible programs like the one I'm reviewing today: Amarok.

Amarok i8s an incredibly sophisticated music player that will handle nearly any format you can throw at it. iTunes has some nice features, but it's a major resource hog (that puts garbage in the registry that runs at bootup without your permission). Amarok does just about everything its Apple competitor does, and more! For instance, while listening to an artist, it will go get the lyrics to the current song, as well as call up appropriate Wikipedia articles. Cool!

It's kind to older systems, and will run like the wind on newer ones. And, like iTunes, it comes with its own music store, Magnatune. Except that when you purchase the extremely reasonably priced music, you're not giving a NICKEL to the slimy RIAA!

So if you're stuck with Windows, consider today's FamilyFirst site impetus to look into converting to Linux (AND keeping your Windows system available via VMWare). If you're running Linux, download and install Amarok ASAP! You'll be glad you did.

http://amarok.kde.org/

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