Startup View. Comparison to Ballista:

Win is cheaper, more expensive to break due to having 1-2 more subroutines than Ballista (only with Odore both are equally expensive) and can fire multiple subroutines. Win wins. On HQ Win wins even more. It's not even fully boomerangable. Add to that the awkwardness of Ballista's single subroutine which never allows you to trash a program AND end the run. Add to that that Win can do both AND trash Hardware in addition to that.

Devil's advocate:

1. Winchester cannot end the run if not played on HQ.
2. A VERY rich runner can "break" Winchester without a Killer installed due to the subroutines being (tho quite expensive) traces.
3. Ballista is more splashable due to only 2 inf compared to 4 with Winchester.
4. Winchester is more predictable to be played on HQ/should not be installed on HQ if HQ is already "full" of ICE.
5. A facecheck without anything installed is worse with Ballista, which has a hard ETR.
6. Link-heavy Runners laugh at the traces.

Answer:

1. Pity, nothing to do about that.
2. I have to go a little out on a limb here: Rich facechecks aren't really a thing. That's why cards like Whitespace work at all. It would make a difference if you already trashed their last Killer but we're already at a lot of "if"s. Even if they facecheck while being rich (another "if") they'll pay a lot - I'm fine with that.
3. How often do you see a Ballista outside of Weyland? o.O
4. Reading this review should have made clear that Winchester is better even if not installed on HQ. If you think predictability is a problem you still get more worth installing Winchester somewhere else.
5. Agreed. Win...loses :( But paying 5 for an early ETR hurts like /%$&. And if you really need the ETR on Winchester you can buff it with your own money.
6. Most of them are not really the meta-winners in Startup right now. Even if they have 1 Link AND Win is not on HQ they have to pay 5 credits which is still more than breaking Ballista with contemporary breakers.

I felt kinda sick everytime i played/saw a Ballista for 5 credits and saw it being broken for 2 credits by a Bukhgalter. That's what drove me to writing this review. I'm not trying to bash Ballista here but I'd really like you to try this: Substitute the Ballistas in your decks as far as you can with Winchesters. Tell me how you feel about it. You can go back if points 1-6 (or something I didn't think about) happens too often. Just give a little love to Win. The review on here makes it look bad which it isn't. :(

A 4 strength sentry with 2 subs (ideally 3) for 4 credits is great value for the corp. However, because of the traces, even if the runner face checks this, there is no guarantee it will actually fire. Trace 3 is just high enough to be relevant, especially now that Power Tap and a whole assortment of link cards are rotated. Outside of Sunny, who laughs at this card, and maybe link-friendly shapers like Kabonesa and Lat, there isn't a runner who can brush this off. And being able to trash a console is game-winning, while it can end the run as well.

Pretty decent card, especially if you can park it on HQ. Probably best in Earth Station. Not fantastic though.