Winamp (Windows/Mac)
Winamp is the one music player that has really been around for ever. It is not only the oldest and most famous music player, but it is also the most customisable and fastest free music player. The latest version of Winamp is available both for Windows and Mac and even for Android. Apart from playing music, you can use Winamp to watch videos, rip CDs, subscribe to podcasts and even download music. If you are an Android user it also lets you sync your music wirelessly. If you are a music player you can easily import music from your iTunes playlist. And the best part of Winamp that has been attracting youngsters for the last 15-odd years are its incredible skins that let you change the player’s appearance to suit your tastes.
Foobar2000 (Windows)
Foobar2000 calls itself the music player of the future. Designed by geeks for people who like to tweak and twist their music players endlessly, this is a player that is extremely customisable and completely flexible. For starters it is free. It can play any format that you throw at it. It allows for gapless playback, has advanced tagging capabilities, lets you rip audio CDs, and even lets you convert between different audio formats. Since you get customisable keyboard shortcuts you need never take your hands off the keyboard, and since the makers of Foobar2000 let developers to come up with plug-ins and components, you can tweak its features to make it work just the way you want it. Even after all those plug-ins Foobar2000 has a very light footprint.
iTunes (Mac/Windows)
Despite all the criticism, Apple’s music player iTunes is one of the best music players for Windows and the best and default music player for Mac OSX. What makes iTunes unique is that it is not just a great music and video player, but is also a music and film/TV store, a podcast manager, and more importantly the only application that will sync music, applications, video etc… As this October iTunes gets updated to its version 11, it is getting even more better. You get new great library views, a new beautiful mini player, and a completely revamped design. Add iCloud integration to the mix that syncs songs across all your apple devices, and you have one of the best, free media players on the market.
Miro (Mac)
If you use a Mac, but don’t want to use iTunes, and want to be a free bird who can buy or download music from anywhere, Miro is your friend. For starters it works with your current music library, to which you can add by buying music from various sources. You can even download stuff using the built-in bit torrent client. Content can be synced with android devices, and you get built-in converters.
