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Revision as of 18:47, 5 June 2010
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 Screenshot of mIRC 6.35 running on Windows Vista, displaying a channel chat on freenode | |
| Developer(s) | mIRC Co. Ltd. (Khaled Mardam-Bey) |
|---|---|
| Initial release | February 28, 1995 (1995-02-28) |
| Stable release | 7.78 (6 November 2024; 52 days ago (2024-11-06)) [±] |
| Written in | C/C++ (originally Borland C++) |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Platform | x86 |
| Size | 2.68 MB |
| Type | IRC client |
| License | Proprietary, Shareware |
| Website | www.mirc.com |
mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client for Microsoft Windows, created in 1995 and developed by Khaled Mardam-Bey. Although it is a fully functional chat utility, its integrated scripting language makes it extensible and versatile.
mIRC has been downloaded over twenty-six million times from CNET's www.download.com service. Nielsen//NetRatings also ranked mIRC among the top ten most popular Internet applications in 2003.
It is unknown if the "m" in mIRC stands for anything (the author's personal FAQ explains that "it quite possibly stands for 'moo', or perhaps even MU"). The author pronounces it "m-I-R-C", or "mirk" for short.
History
Khaled Mardam-Bey decided to create mIRC because he found the first IRC client for Windows, WinIRC, lacked some basic IRC features. Then he continued developing it due to the challenge and the fact that people appreciated his work. The subsequent popularity allowed him to make a living out of mIRC. It costs $20 to register it after the 30-day evaluation period, though no functions are disabled if mIRC is run for longer than 30 days unregistered; a nag screen merely delays the start of the program. Recent versions of mIRC also spawn new browser windows with the registration page.
Main features
mIRC has a number of features that set it apart from other IRC clients. One of the more obvious differences is its own advanced scripting language (see below) which is further developed with each version. The scripting language can be used to make minor changes to the program like custom commands (aliases), but can also be used to completely alter the behavior and appearance of mIRC. Another widely used feature is mIRC's file sharing abilities, via the DCC protocol. It also has a built in file server.
Over the years various other features that have often been suggested by users have been incorporated. This includes support for multiple server connections, SSL, UTF-8 display support and an option to view channels and notify lists in a treebar format rather than the default switchbar. mIRC is still in active development but it is very rarely announced what features will be introduced in the future.
mIRC scripting
Main article: mIRC scripting languagemIRC's abilities and behaviors can be altered and extended using the embedded mIRC scripting language.
mIRC scripting is not limited to IRC related events and commands. There is also support for COM objects, calling DLLs, sockets and dialog boxes, among other things. This allows the client to be used in a variety of ways beyond chatting, for example as an IRC bot, a media player, a web HTML parser or for other entertainment purposes such as mIRC games. In practice however, mIRC will not be used solely for such specific purposes, but rather scripts for such purposes are addons for the client, which will otherwise be used for chatting.
Due to the level of access the language has to a user's computer, for example, being able to rename and delete files, a number of abusive scripts have been made. Perhaps one of the more prominent examples of abuse was that executed with the $decode identifier which decodes a given encoded string. Many users who did not understand this were misguided into decoding strings which executed commands on their systems. Such messages were disguised as a fake promise of operator status in an IRC channel. However, this led to changes being made in version 6.17 so $decode is now disabled by default and various other features which can be considered 'dangerous' are able to be locked.
Criticism
Onno Tijdgat, author of Ircle, criticizes mIRC's color format, arguing that it uses a flawed design and follows no common standard. Khaled Mardam-Bey responded to this criticism, observing that there was no common standard between IRC clients at the time so using any one existing format would "have annoyed those clients that didn't use that particular format". Ultimately this led to him creating a new format designed for ease of use, however he acknowledged that "the design should have been more robust".
See also
References
- "mIRC: Latest News". mirc.com. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
- "Khaled's Nutshell: Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- "Download.com". Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- "InternetNews Traffic Patterns 2003". Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ "Khaled's Nutshell". Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- "Color FAQ". Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- "mIRC Discussion Forums". Retrieved 2008-08-13.
External links
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