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I used to use XChat, until i realised it was only free on Linux. It was my favourite IRC client I've used and it's my preferred choice on Linux now. I moved to mIRC but it's not perfect imo. I should try to get to use irssi more but I have a thing for GUIs. Terminal-style apps are ok but not something I'd like to spend ages looking at, especially on Windows.

What GUI-based client do you use on Windows and why?

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XChat2 (silverex.org/download) is a free clone of XChat for windows. – RJFalconer Jan 9 '10 at 2:04
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Free XChat Windows build: code.google.com/p/xchat-wdk – Shiki Jun 8 '10 at 17:15
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16 Answers

up vote 19 down vote accepted

X-Chat 2 - free, stable, comes with python, ruby ... support

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Accepting this as it is what I was looking for. – Ross Jul 7 '11 at 21:30
Tried xChat, but it crashes every time I try to change the font... I read on the FAQ there's something to patch it or some such... but I want an IRC client, not a chance to troubleshoot :P – Bob Dec 17 '11 at 14:48
@Bob - You've tried XChat or XChat 2? There is a difference! – ldigas Dec 18 '11 at 7:30
2.8.6-2 - I ended up using Pidgin... At least in the rooms I'm in now it hasn't crashed, hopefully they fixed the crowded room bugs. – Bob Dec 18 '11 at 19:22
@Bob - Well, whatever works for you. I, just to mention, have no problems with XChat2, in rooms to up to ... oh, I don't know ... 400? people. – ldigas Dec 18 '11 at 21:07
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up vote 12 down vote

mIRC

Pretty Solid.

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Simple, yet powerful. I have been using mIRC for over 10 years. – cschol Jul 17 '09 at 22:57
But is mIRC free? – bAN Jul 27 '09 at 19:14
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@bAN: I never had to pay for it. I know it has that evaluation period, but it never stopped me from using it. – codingbear Jul 27 '09 at 21:55
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up vote 7 down vote

Pidgin supports IRC out of the box, and it works well because the chat windows are tabbed in the same window as other conversations:

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Pidgin is also nice since you can use it for all your other chat needs like MSN, Yahoo, Facebook etc – Matthew Lock Nov 19 '09 at 3:33
Your image is broken. – musicfreak Nov 29 '09 at 7:07
Pidgin's IRC is nice when it works... I've had it crash repeatedly from chats being too crowded or god knows what else. It was always the same rooms, so I assume it's an unsupported setting or something. – Bob Dec 17 '11 at 3:53
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up vote 5 down vote

I use ChatZilla, mainly because I'm not a heavy IRC user and its really convenient to use it as a plugin for Firefox, it's nice and lightweight too.

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up vote 4 down vote

irssi - over SSH to a Linux box :)

There is an official Cygwin build though, but it's Cygwin, so I don't like it much.

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+1 for ssh-to-linux-run-irssi, but -1 for mentioning cygwin (j/k) ;) – jtimberman Jul 18 '09 at 15:52
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up vote 2 down vote

I use Trillian along with ChatZilla (already mentioned). Trillian because I already use it for other chat networks and it's convenient to not have to install yet another chat program.

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I remember using Trillian a while back but dropped it for some reason. Have you tried Trillian Astra? – Ross Jul 17 '09 at 22:22
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@Ross: i've tried it. Slick new GUI, but still slow... and still fails to play well with the firewall - even worse now, as it won't even start if it can't contact its own servers. That last one pretty much killed it for me; i can use GTalk and AIM through GMail now, fighting with a desktop app that can't figure out how to tunnel through 443 is just more trouble than its worth. – Shog9♦ Jul 17 '09 at 22:52
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up vote 2 down vote

Windows or Linux, Xchat rocks

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up vote 1 down vote

http://mibbit.com

It can be used from the webbrowser.

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If only it hadn't been banned from freenode... – SamB Sep 1 '11 at 1:37
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up vote 1 down vote

Ice chat is pretty similar to mirc but doesn't have the guilt and nagging associated with registering it.

http://www.icechat.net/site/

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up vote 0 down vote

I've been using thrashirc for 3 years. I like it's simple GUI, and it's dcc resume feature. It runs good on vista and win7 ultimate 64bit. Sucky part, it isn't free. It was $10 back when I got it, I think it's $12 now. http://www.thrashirc.com

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up vote 0 down vote

I haven't IRCed in a long time but I, and a lot of people I knew when I did IRC, used to use XiRCON and PIRCH. I don't think either are still updated but I believe PIRCH spawned a successor called Vortec IRC.

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up vote 0 down vote

Miranda-IM!

Simple, and to the point. Don't need fancy features (like mIRC).

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up vote 0 down vote

from the irc clients i've tried, there've been only two decent ones, mIRC and Klient. Klient is better than mIRC. it looks different at first, but with some configuring you can make it look pretty much just like it.

another answerer just reminded me of XIRCON, which is a great as an alternative to mIRC - the only other client i could stand. BUT it's not as good as mIRC (or klient of course) since it's pretty much minimalistic; there are few features. but at least it's free and doesn't have the nag screen (last i tried anyway).

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Links would be nice. – Steve Rowe Sep 7 '11 at 15:28
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up vote 0 down vote

I use ThrashIRC too, but I'm a little biased. :) -Anthony Thrash Durbin developer@thrashirc.com

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up vote 0 down vote

Free XChat Windows build, XChat-WDK.

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up vote 0 down vote

If you are looking for something cross platform kvirc isn't too bad. There is also a portable version for Windows.

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