Author Topic: Best FREE IRC client? (Read 35,067 times)

moerl · « **on:** November 17, 2005, 06:23 AM »

I know mIRC is popular and I've always liked it.. but I don't like how no new version of it has appeared in almost a year and a half.. and I never bought mIRC, and frankly, given the situation, now is the worst time to pay for it. So.. I took a look at everything listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IRC_clients#Windows

And well, I'm pretty confused now. There are so many clients out there I'm about to go nuts.. savIRC and Vortec IRC both look great. ViRC looks ok but not very user friendly and the comments/reviews on betanews support this assumption. I've tried Hydra IRC at least twice before and somehow I was never able to become friends with it. I might have to give it another shot.. but one downside of it is that it too is stuck in a development-halt phase.. apparently it's been stuck at the version it's at now for a while. It's freeware but not open source so all development depends on its author.

Does anyone here have experience with all these clients?

Thanks

jazper · « **Reply #1 on:** November 17, 2005, 06:28 AM »

I know you said FREE, but I can't resist on giving a plug for Klient. Has excellent multi-network support, great user interface. Supports Plugins via Delphi SDK, C++ SDK, and C SDK. Also, the scripting languages it supports is VBScript, JScript, Perlscript, PHPScript, and RubyScript.

Its $24.95 for lifetime license, which includes upgrades to all future versions.

jazper

f0dder · « **Reply #2 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:05 AM »

I haven't been able to find a replacement for mIRC - nothing else really seems to do the trick. While mIRC isn't exactly LEAN_AND_MEAN, it's not the largest client either. The lack of updates doesn't bother me much, since it's pretty mature; new updates just for the sake of bumping version number is silly

I've tried XChat as well, nad it looks sorta okay when tweaked a bit. However the windows version is nonfree (because building the windows version is nontrivial? yay for ´portable´ programs, sigh). It also suffers badly from flickering when resizing, which is unacceptable to me.

moerl · « **Reply #3 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:18 AM »

The FREE is just a guideline.. I'd like you all to point out whatever you think is the best client

. I actually tried downloading Klient earlier.. and the site is as good as down. Terribly slow and unresponsive.. I looked for other mirrors but couldn't find any :/

moerl · « **Reply #4 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:19 AM »

I've come to a similar conclusion with mIRC.. I'm going to give Klient a try because it does look promising but if that doesn't work out I'll probably end up with my old, tried & tested combo of mIRC + NNScript.

brotherS · « **Reply #5 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:38 AM »

Quote from: moerl on November 17, 2005, 06:23 AM

I know mIRC is popular and I've always liked it.. but I don't like how no new version of it has appeared in almost a year and a half..

Well, I never really liked mIRC, but I'm very happy without it.

Don't worry no more, salvation is near: http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=1201.0

f0dder · « **Reply #6 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:44 AM »

Hehe... Miranda is very nice for Instant Messaging (I hope they'll soon release an updated official version that fixes the numerous MSN bugs), but it doesn't do the trick for IRC for me... oh well

brotherS · « **Reply #7 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:50 AM »

Quote from: f0dder on November 17, 2005, 07:44 AM

Hehe... Miranda is very nice for Instant Messaging (I hope they'll soon release an updated official version that fixes the numerous MSN bugs), but it doesn't do the trick for IRC for me... oh well

Hehe, I was waiting for comments like this, thanks

Of course, if you (feel the) need to use lots and lots of scripts you should go for mIRC, since there are simply much more scripts available.

But if you don't (and thanks to http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=1167.0 I don't) Miranda is quite perfect IMHO.

moerl · « **Reply #8 on:** November 17, 2005, 07:59 AM »

I never even considered a multi-protocol chat client as a viable option for an IRC client.. not sure why. I use Trillian Pro myself, and love it.. but I've never once tried doing IRC with it. Opera is also my main browser, which has IRC integrated... I never use it.

I just installed and tried Klient... and I must say, it blows me away. For the first time, EVER, an IRC client's setup options and interface actually make PERFECT SENSE. Even mIRC takes quite some getting used to until you get the interface and especially all the options and settings... Klient seems to be the way an IRC client SHOULD BE MADE. I'm rather amazed at the moment, I must say... I haven't connected to any channels yet.. just went through the options and customized here and there.. but just that left me very impressed.

I'm sure I'll report back after I gather some more info on Klient's performance/quality, but for right now, I'm quite impressed. (Their website became usable again and I was able to download

)

brotherS · « **Reply #9 on:** November 17, 2005, 08:33 AM »

Quote from: moerl on November 17, 2005, 07:59 AM

I never even considered a multi-protocol chat client as a viable option for an IRC client..

I see...

Quote

not sure why.

There we found the problem

Main reasons why I use Miranda for IRC:
- it's highly customizable
- I can easily use the same hotkeys, sounds and whatever for IRC, ICQ, AIM
- all the chatting is done in one program

Hirudin · « **Reply #10 on:** November 17, 2005, 12:20 PM »

I've gone on a "find a new IRC client" bindge a time or too also, but I always go back to ol' mIRC. In fact, I still use 6.03 because I'm too damn lazy to install a new one, also because this install has lasted through several formats). I hate using the "standard" program for anything, but mIRC is one I just can't shake (Winamp is another).

I tried Miranda for an AIM client, but couldn't make it work in the first 5 minutes so I gave up and went back to trillian. It'll take quite a bit to get me to install it again.

(I use 0 scripts. The most advanced thing I do with mIRC is hit TAB to complete people's names.) I think I'll take a lookyloo at savIRC and Vortec IRC though. Has anyone here used either of these?

mouser · « **Reply #11 on:** November 17, 2005, 12:55 PM »

maybe you'll find a mirc script worth installing here:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/mircpak/index.html

or here even:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/mircryption/index.php

Nighted · « **Reply #12 on:** November 17, 2005, 02:52 PM »

The IRC plugin in Miranda is a bit better than the one included with Trillian. I've been playing around with Miranda lately and tweaking a few of the addons I found on the site. Something to put on my flash drive when I'm travelling. So far I've configured it quite satisfactorily....

mIRC is still the best for me though, I think. I have a lot of memories from mIRC and love making scripts once in a while. I also have a post card from Kahled on my refrigerator.

brotherS · « **Reply #13 on:** November 17, 2005, 03:01 PM »

Quote from: Hirudin on November 17, 2005, 12:20 PM

I've gone on a "find a new IRC client" bindge a time or too also, but I always go back to ol' mIRC. In fact, I still use 6.03 because I'm too damn lazy to install a new one, also because this install has lasted through several formats). I hate using the "standard" program for anything, but mIRC is one I just can't shake (Winamp is another).

While Winamp is a really great standard (with all those plugins available!) mIRC is not IMHO, at least not for your needs.

Quote

I tried Miranda for an AIM client, but couldn't make it work in the first 5 minutes so I gave up and went back to trillian. It'll take quite a bit to get me to install it again.

Read what Nighted said - I can only copy that

Miranda has a great IRC plugin and you could enhance what Miranda does with a few of the bazillion available plugins. Btw, Miranda chat: #Miranda irc.freenode.net

Quote

(I use 0 scripts. The most advanced thing I do with mIRC is hit TAB to complete people's names.) I think I'll take a lookyloo at savIRC and Vortec IRC though. Has anyone here used either of these?

TAB completion is part of almost every IRC program out there, for Miranda you can also choose if it should add ": " behind the name or not - and about 20352971 other things.

Should you want to try Miranda again (and you should want

) please check the URL mentioned in my signature.

moerl · « **Reply #14 on:** November 18, 2005, 09:03 PM »

I have to say I like Klient.. its interface is beautiful and the preferences are ridiculously easy. Aside from that, it really doesn't seem to offer anything extraordinary, especially compared to mIRC. It's a good, solid client, no doubt, and I guess that's what counts

.

I keep looking at VORTEC though.. and every time I take a look I'm more interested. I will probably try it out soon. It's also updated more than Klient. Klient's last release was in July or something.. Vortec's in October

brotherS · « **Reply #15 on:** November 19, 2005, 11:34 AM »

Quote from: moerl on November 18, 2005, 09:03 PM

[...]
It's also updated more than Klient. Klient's last release was in July or something.. Vortec's in October

Miranda in November

moerl · « **Reply #16 on:** November 19, 2005, 07:48 PM »

You really are a Miranda fan, aren't you

moerl · « **Reply #17 on:** November 19, 2005, 07:48 PM »

I can't use Miranda just for IRC. That would be odd.. and the reason I say "just for IRC" is because I use Trillian Pro for everything else.

Innuendo · « **Reply #18 on:** November 19, 2005, 09:29 PM »

Lots of people really like Bisirc because it is small, fast, and free.
http://bersirc.free2code.net/index.php/home/

Icechat is a new client in alpha, but it has a pretty aggressive development cycle going right now.
http://bersirc.free2code.net/index.php/home/

brotherS · « **Reply #19 on:** November 19, 2005, 10:53 PM »

Quote from: moerl on November 19, 2005, 07:48 PM

You really are a Miranda fan, aren't you

Maybe...

Quote from: moerl on November 19, 2005, 07:48 PM

I can't use Miranda just for IRC. That would be odd.. and the reason I say "just for IRC" is because I use Trillian Pro for everything else.

Well, you are totally right. You can't use Miranda just for IRC. No. Don't do it. Really, no. You should use Miranda for everything!

vegas · « **Reply #20 on:** November 20, 2005, 12:45 AM »

A program lacking support (Miranda) for such a heavily used feature as AOL File Transfer, which I personally use all the time, along with 20+ people on my buddy list. This is the main thing that keeps me on Trillian, even though development of Trillian is a rip-off IMHO.

moerl · « **Reply #21 on:** November 21, 2005, 05:16 AM »

I have no damn clue what the guys at Cerulean are thinking... no updates in forever

But hey.. Trillian works for me. It's as stable as a rock. That doesn't mean it couldn't use an update or improvements, but at least I'm not having any problems that really need fixing

NoWhereMan · « **Reply #22 on:** November 21, 2005, 07:36 AM »

Quote from: f0dder on November 17, 2005, 07:05 AM

I've tried XChat as well, nad it looks sorta okay when tweaked a bit. However the windows version is nonfree (because building the windows version is nontrivial? yay for ´portable´ programs, sigh).

You have to search a bit

http://www.google.com/search?q=xchat+win32
There ARE some free builds

bye

brotherS · « **Reply #23 on:** November 21, 2005, 08:04 AM »

Quote from: vegas on November 20, 2005, 12:45 AM

A program lacking support (Miranda) for such a heavily used feature as AOL File Transfer, which I personally use all the time, along with 20+ people on my buddy list. This is the main thing that keeps me on Trillian, even though development of Trillian is a rip-off IMHO.

Well, I always thought file transfer is mostly used by teens to trade mp3 files?

I use IM file transfer less than once a week (to DCC a log file maybe), I prefer to use http://www.yousendit.com for file transfers.