Thanks Russel.

I get a response of $false when I run //echo -a $sslready.

I downloaded and ran Win32 OpenSSL v0.9.8e Light from http://www.shininglightpro.com/download/Win32OpenSSL_Light-0_9_8e.exe and when that didn't work I downloaded and ran the full 6MB version from http://www.shininglightpro.com/download/Win32OpenSSL-0_9_8e.exe -- after that I copied libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll to my Windows System and mIRC directories, but still no luck. I googled a copy of msvcr70d.dll as per the suggestions at http://www.mirc.co.uk/ssl.html and copied that file to my mIRC and Windows System directories, but still no luck! Could it be that my router is blocking the ssl requests?

I was not having these problems on my wired connection on my old computer... I just can't seem to install the SSL libraries on the Macbook Pro.

I even tried installing Joher .IRC which comes with built-in SSL via a plugin, but the "Connect SSL" remains grayed out after installation of the required plugin.

I'm stumped. Anyone have any thoughts?