As the end draws near for Winamp, here's how to migrate your playlists elsewhere

With just 15 days until it’s pulled from the web, the future is increasingly looking bleak for popular media player Winamp. Now is the time to download the latest version while you still can before backing it up in triplicate.

With its end fast approaching, rival media players are looking to bite into the Winamp market share. One such tool is Freemake Music Box 1.0, with its makers keen to point out you can easily import your existing Winamp music playlists into Freemake Music Box.

Freemake Music Box supports a wide range of existing playlist formats, allowing users to easily transfer from a raft of rival players, including Windows Media Player as well as Winamp. Users should simply launch Music Box, select My Playlists and choose Import.

Browse to the folder containing your Winamp playlists in .M3U format and select it, at which point it’ll appear in Freemake Music Box, ready for action.

It’s worth noting that other media players also support importing .M3U playlists, including MediaMonkey, XBMC and VLC Media Player, so users will have a wide range of apps to choose from without having to sacrifice existing playlists should they decide to switch.

Since AOL’s shock decision to discontinue it, a petition has been set up to try and get AOL to release the software to the community, but despite garnering 42,000 supporters so far, AOL has yet to show any signs of changing its stance.

With this in mind, if you plan to try -- or continue to use -- Winamp after December 20th, then now is the time to download it. You’ll find both Winamp 5.666 and Winamp Pro 5.666 available for download on our website, while those interested in helping to save Winamp for future development should visit the Save Winamp website.