[Osiris]

I like to move many applications that are currently running in the background into the system tray instead of the task bar to avoid that the task bar gets cluttered with applications that I do not need to access. One of the programs that I like in the system tray is Winamp. I listen to Internet radio most of the time which means I just let it play all day long without having to load playlists or song into Winamp. There is no need to have it open at all in the task bar.
I would still like to control the song that is currently played and be able to stop or pause it. Useful when I receive a phone call or need to talk to someone using Skype. I’m using Winamp 2.95 lite which might behave different than those bloated versions that came out more recently. Well, in this Winamp you can right-click and select Options > Preferences. When you are in there you go to Options > Display and select to “Show Winamp in” system tray only. This ensures that Winamp will not use a window in the task bar.
You need a plugin for playing controls in the system tray. This is not necessary if you run a new version of Winamp. The plugin that I’m using is called Tray Control Mercury and can be configured in the options under Plugins > General Purpose. Just select the plugin from the list after installation and choose the controls that you want to see in the system tray. I selected play, stop and open file which should be enough for most users. You can also select next and previous track.