Winextra » adiirc

Software Review – IRC Clients Part Three: HydraIRC

billy2 — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:31:28 +0000

For our next installment, I chose HydraIRC, an open-source offering that bills itself as a “Professional IRC client”. Like AdiIRC, it started out as one coder’s desire for an IRC client that met all his personal needs. Then, as he says on the site: “..it just became so good so quick everyone else wanted it too.” HydraIRC was designed for Windows XP, but runs under Vista as well. Win95 and NT users, sorry. Does anyone still run either one?

Acquisition and Installation

HydraIRC can be downloaded here. It’s officially labeled as “experimental” with a version number of 0.3.160, but there’s nothing Beta about using it. It’s stable, and everything that supposed to work, works. It’s about one meg on the download, and requires a bit over 2 megs of space to settle in. Now, I usually don’t fully read EULA’s, but this one was short, and it caught my eye, so I read it through. Not the usual crap. Here’s part of it:

Anyone who is a politician or who works for any form of government body is expressly forbidden to use any version of HydraIRC.
Fileplanet.com and any other site requiring membership of any kind before users are allowed to download HydraIRC are expressly forbidden from hosting any HydraIRC files on their site.
I’m not liable for anything at all.

Good stuff, man.

Installs smoothly, creating desktop and quicklaunch icons if you so desire.

Features and Use

On startup, HydraIRC will prompt you to create an ‘Identity’, not unlike filing in your real name and email address in mIRC or AdiIRC. HydraIRC supports multiple ‘identities’. There is an identity manager where you can enter a potentially unlimited number of identities then specify which server to use them on. Other clients do this, but none I’ve seen have addressed it this well. Most clients offer you a primary nickname, and an alternate. If both are taken, you can’t connect until you modify the settings. Hydra allows you to enter as many alternate nicks as you desire. handy for very busy networks with no nick registration system. Oh yeah, HydraIRC supports multiple networks, too. As many as you want until your computer or your bandwidth give up, anyway.

While not quite as simple as AdiIRC to use, the interface was intuitive enough for me to learn my way around quickly enough. There is a large list of pre-loaded IRC networks for you to choose from, or you can add your own, such as the server where the Winextra channel is located. After choosing a server and connecting to it, the fist thing that pissed me off I didn’t like reared it’s head. Upon retrieving a channel list from the server (which can take some time for big servers) you can select channel(s) to join, but the channel list window is ‘always on top’ and won’t let you click on anything under it. It must be closed. If you want to join another channel after that, you must reopen the channel list window, and wait for it to populate once again.

The interface is very clean and pleasing. It meshes with Windows quite well, and actually is strongly reminiscent of BOSS, a utility suite coded by Steven a while back. All the IRC clients I’ve seen have the ability to resize and move the windows around to make it more useful for your own needs. HydraIRC has a first, at least for me: Under the ‘View’ menu, there are 5 ‘presets’, each one has the default windows perfectly sized and docked in various configurations. I’m pretty sure one of them will be at least close to your liking. Points for Hydra. Sadly, the ref takes the points back for lack of color scheme adjustment capability.

System Friendliness

I encountered no system troubles with HydraIRC. It has a very small footprint, consuming no noticeable CPU cycles, and maximum observed memory usage was under 8,000k. HydraIRC is packed with an uninstaller, which seemed to clean up after itself quite well.

Alas, since this client is marked as ‘experimental’, there are some issues. Some menus are dead-ends, and a few features haven’t been enabled, however, new version have been released frequently, with each revealing new features and tying up loose ends. For me, this isn’t a deal-breaker, as I’ve always enjoyed watching programs progress through adolescence to adulthood, and HydraIRC just might be a college-bound honor student.

Pros: Great, well designed interface, multiple identity manager huge hit with me.

Cons: Not “done” yet, several display-related irritations

Software Review – IRC Clients Part Three: HydraIRC is a post from: winextra
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Software Review – IRC Clients Part Two: mIRC

billy2 — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:30:14 +0000

mIRC is number two on our foray through the world of IRC clients. This is the client I cut my teeth on about 10 years ago when I was first introduced to IRC. mIRC has come a loooong way since then, friends and neighbors. Looking at screenshot of version 2 and looking at it now, it’s tough to tell they’re related.

Acquisition and Installation

mIRC is currently in version 6.31, and is a 1.6 meg download in EXE installer form, a continuation of this clients trend over the years to get larger as features and capabilities were added. It was at one time less than half a meg with version 2, and a damn good thing, since I was on AOL dialup at them time. (I know, much I have learned) The license agreement is the first bit you see, so I must mention here, that unlike AdiIRC, mIRC is not free. It’s 30-day shareware, but full-function. You have to endure a nag screen at startup, and after the 30 days, if you’re too cheap to scratch up the $20.00usd, the nag screen gets more annoying, but no features are disabled. Your registration fee is for life, and good for any and all future versions.

Features and Use

Upon opening mIRC for the first time, you have a tiny bit of setup to do, not unlike AdiIRC. Real name and email address, (I recommend fakes for both) and Nickname with alternate. This is where things can start to get confusing if you’re an IRC newbie. You can click ‘connect’ to connect to the Webchat server if you like, or click the servers tab and choose another server, or enter your own server info.

There are literally thousands of servers available, some are on the same network, some are on different networks. Picture a giant hotel, with 50 rooms on each floor, the rooms on each floor can talk to each other, but not with rooms on other floors. Oh, and some of the rooms are totally cut off from the others, these are semi-private networks, with only one server. These private servers are VERY common, but you’d never know they existed unless someone gave you the information you needed to connect.

mIRC is PACKED with features. Perhaps too packed. The User Interface can be personalized to a huge degree, including window transparency for desktop windows, colors and fonts either globally or on a per-window basis, and any window can be set to open outside the main client, I found this useful when chatting with someone who’s talking me through a problem. Make the window small at the bottom of the screen, and the program they’re helping me with over the rest of the screen. You can do a large amount of automation such as connection on open, autojoining of multiple channels, on multiple servers. You can set notifications when you receive messages of someone types your name, or any other phrase. There is a detailed logging panel, for recording the contents of all chat windows. There is the new addition of support for Microsoft Agent if you have it installed. Detailed handling of files transferred via DCC including ignoring certain file types, and specified locations for the files received depending on what type of files they are. The possibilities are almost endless. Perhaps TOO endless. As I said, I’ve been using mIRC since v2, and there are some things in here that I….just don’t grok.

Which…..brings me to my next point. mIRC is, without doubt, a very powerful client. The large part of mIRC’s bulk is the advanced “scripting” (a type of programming) capability. Anything that mIRC doesn’t do, someone has probably written a script that makes it do so.

Scripts are short programs (sets of instructions) that can be used to automate tasks in mIRC. mIRC has its own scripting language which can be used to perform many different types of tasks, from managing your IRC channels to playing multi-user online games.
mIRC scripts can also be used to perform tasks that are not IRC-related, such as managing files on your computer, sending emails, or backing up your web server.

The second half of the quote there is significant. Since the scripting capability of mIRC is so powerful at automating tasks, many people have written all-inclusive scripts and add-ons that can often be downloaded from various websites. These scripts sometimes change the look, layout, and function of mIRC so drastically that it’s indistinguishable as mIRC at all. These scripts can also harbor viruses, Trojans, and backdoors that function totally invisible, while you chat merrily away. You’ve already given mIRC permission to access the Internet, and since the nasties are now “one” with mIRC, your malware scanners may not even notice any problems. My recommendation is to never install any add-on or script unless you:

A: Know and trust the person who wrote it.

-OR-

B: Know and trust someone who has used the script long enough to determine that it’s safe.

mIRC does it’s best to protect you, but since the creators of mIRC have no control over what the scripts do, it’s best to be on your guard at all times.

I did miss decent media player integration. It’s rather trendy, albeit occasionally obtrusive, to display messages in the channel announcing the music you’re playing, something AdiIRC does very well, but mIRC requires 3rd party scripts. Also irritating was the lack of window transparency for windows within mIRC. Sure, you can set a background image, but what’s the point if the chat windows are in front of it? Yeah, you could set the image to EVERY FREAKIN WINDOW, but what if you’re a channel-hopper?

If you’re audacious enough, there is info aplenty on the mIRC site if you want to try your hand at writing scripts on your own. However, many things are quite simple, (such as binding oft-used commands to the function keys) and can be accomplished by simply spending a couple minutes with the mIRC help tab.

If you’re in a semi-public place with nosy co-workers, or a parent concerned about with whom your child is chatting, mIRC includes provisions to specify or limit access, and can be password protected.

System Friendliness

mIRC can be unobtrusively minimized to the tray and forgotten. You can set up options to notify you if someone says your name, so it’s natural that you might leave this running for long stretches. 22,000k was the average memory bite, and this increased for each background image I added. Interesting, since I have a slightly older version of mIRC running 24/7 on another machine that takes up less than half that. Interesting, indeed.

mIRC uninstalled cleanly except a few stray registry entries. Keep in mind, any folders that you created from within mIRC will not be deleted, and remember those prefab scripts I spoke about? You never know what they will do…or what they’ll leave behind once mIRC is gone.

Wrap up

Pros: Feature-rich client, powerful proprietary scripting tool, limitless potential for personalizing your chat experience.

Cons: Plethora of features may be intimidating for IRC newbies. Needs media player integration and window transparency.

Screenshots

Just for laughs, a screenshot of mIRC 2.1, then below it, a screenshot of mIRC 6.31. Quite a change in 10 years.

Software Review – IRC Clients Part Two: mIRC is a post from: winextra
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Software Reviews – IRC Clients. Part One: AdiIRC

billy2 — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:08:50 +0000

Internet Relay Chat is one of the older Internet protocols, actually developed for a BBS in the late 1980′s. Software for accessing this worldwide chat network exist for nearly every computer platform and operating system in existence.

I decided this would be a good time to take a run through a few of the clients (programs) available for connecting to IRC. We’ll start with AdiIRC, a client for Windows.

Now, I’m not trying to scare people away from mIRC before I even review it, but Kron, the author of this client, created it out of a kind of disgust. He had been invited to an IRC conversation, and downloaded mIRC, which is hands-down the most popular client in my observation. He found it hugely complicated and bloated, and uninstalled it in minutes, deciding to write a simpler client himself, and that’s what he’s done.

Acquisition and Installation

The install package, weighing in at an expectedly small 330k, can be acquired here. Current version is 1.6, but there is a beta available for the adventurous among you that reportedly is a significant improvement from its predecessor. The installation is quick and option-free, with exception to deciding on a destination folder. The installer creates a desktop icon as well as a start menu group. Side note: AdiIRC requires .NET, which if you’re running a windows version before Vista, you’ll have to download. Let’s run this puppy.

Features and Use

This is what Kron wanted: when you run the program, this is what you see. One window, ready for the relevant information. Choose your nickname(handle), and alternative in case your first choice is taken, then the only critical info is the server address. In this case, I’ve chosen the server where AdiIRC’s channel (room) is located, because it’s also the place where one finds the Winextra channel. When you click ‘log in’ the main AdiIRC window comes to life. If you’re just here to chat, you’re ready to roll. Nothing else need be done at all. Chat away to your heart’s content. Beauty.

However, it doesn’t end here if you don’t want it to. Clicking ‘file|Options’ in the menu bar brings up a nicely organized list of 16 sections of options you can use to personalize your IRC experience. You can set a background image of your choosing, make the windows transparent, change the color schemes, set notification for certain events, and tons more.

There is integrated controls for your media player, so you can “advertise” to fellow chatters what music you’re listening to. There are a slew of options you can enable to automate events, log conversations, and manage files downloaded through DCC. The integrated system info allows you to announce various facts about your computer, such as CPU type and available disk space.

Keep in mind, though, that none of these options ever need be touched if you’re looking for a simple IRC experience. Being the tinker-er that I am, I couldn’t leave them alone. Also, AdiIRC supports chatting on multiple networks simultaneously, something even the 800lb gorilla mIRC didn’t really do until a couple versions ago.

I did find a couple problems, not in design, however. The display presented a couple issues with window re-sizing and such. I was unable to resize the window by “grabbing” the bottom-right corner. I found the the program didn’t seem to know exactly where the pointer was, and once I moved the mouse a bit down and left, I could grab it. I’m told this is one of the issues addressed in the Beta v1.7: a complete re-working of the display. A quick screenshot of AdiIRC in action:

System Friendliness

AdiIRC, being small by design, has a very small footprint, and I wouldn’t hesitate to let it run 24-7. Almost no CPU usage was noted, and it’s memory appetite was no more than 42,000k, and this was with background images in place, and window transparency effects activated. It all seemed to play quite nicely with everything else I was running, no conflicts were noted. A new thing I’m starting to do, is let you know how well behaved a reviewed program is when you decide you’re done with it. AdiIRC performed OK here, completely removing it’s program folder and shortcuts, but leaving behind about a dozen registry entries that appear to have been created by windows itself, as according to the author, AdiIRC does not use the Windows Registry.

Pros: Small and simple. Great options that can be left alone if you desire. Media Player integration. Multi-server support.

Cons: Minor display issues.

Join Winextra on IRC!

Server: irc.adichat.dk

Port: 6667

Channel: #winextra

Coming up: mIRC reviewed!

Software Reviews – IRC Clients. Part One: AdiIRC is a post from: winextra
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