For reference, these are the statistics from the channel #montréal on Undernet that I just retrieved (nicknames stripped from output):

Originally Posted By: #montréal

(23:50:20) -> [#montréal] VERSION
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6 Linux 2.6.32-bpo.5-amd64 [x86_64/1.20GHz/SMP]
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.12 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.16 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.16 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.31 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.16 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.01 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Ubuntu
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.21 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: ( NoNameScript 4.22 :: www.nnscript.com :: www.esnation.com )
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.31 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:20) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: - all that i can do is break myself in two -
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.03 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: PnP 4.22.2 - http://www.kristshell.net/pnp/
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: ZNC 0.062 - http://znc.sourceforge.net
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.32 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.3 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.21 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.16 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: KVIrc 4.1.1 svn-5163 'Equilibrium' 20101102 - build 2010-11-22 16:39:34 UTC - (Build 7600)
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6 Ubuntu
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: SegaIRC v1.0.3release / MegaDrive16 version (340575) / (Copyright Sega'99 - all rights reserved)
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: XBotserv(v15.2) (High Power Tech) By BuDDyWeeD 2009© -> http://xps.systemzone.org
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.32 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) -SuccubeZzz- © Script Magic V8 © pour usagers et pour opérateurs débutant comme opérateurs expérimentés! --> www.canaladulte.gtx.fr Essayez-le!
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: PnP 4.22.2 - http://www.kristshell.net/pnp/
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: ZNC 0.094 - http://znc.sourceforge.net
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Ubuntu
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6-2 Windows Vista [AMD/3,01GHz]
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.16 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.14 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Ubuntu
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: XBotserv(v15.2) (High Power Tech) By BuDDyWeeD 2009© -> http://xps.systemzone.org
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: ( NoNameScript 4.22 :: www.nnscript.com :: www.esnation.com )
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: CHfriend
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: ircN 8.00 (20100904) - this world rejects me -
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: PnP 4.22 - http://www.pairc.com/
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: elfenoir BETA 83 V.2007
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.34 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.34 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: ßüЧǮîþt v1.01 for mIRC v6.2 32bit - http://www.SexualPredatorsAlert.com
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: MTLGuard v 1.07 par James007
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.21 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:21) -|RX|Merlins|- I am using «-{ßüЧǮîþt}-» v1.01 - http://www.SexualPredatorsAlert.com
(23:50:21) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: AYA Bot V0.1 By NaRRaToR
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) -[RX][AnGeL]- J'utilise .::::::| Radioextreme |:::::. v1.1 fait par |DJ|BUGZ| Telecharger sur [url=Http://radioextreme.org/radioextremev1.1.rar][url=Http://radioextreme.org/radioextremev1.1.rar][url=Http://radioextreme.org/radioextremev1.1.rar]Http://radioextreme.org/radioextremev1.1.rar[/url][/url][/url]
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.20
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC32 v4.6 K.Mardam-Bey
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.19+ctcpfix
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.20
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.20
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: eggdrop v1.6.20
(23:50:22) [*** VERSION reply]: (c)rackrock\BitchX v1.1 for mIRC 6.35 ...it's an addiction
(23:50:24) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:24) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(23:50:24) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey


Note that the only clients are mIRC 6.x and xchat 2.8.x, xchat making up only a handful of the 97 responding users. Of course there was also some eggdrop responses, but these are generally not considered "clients", so we can ignore these. The important part to note is that there is a huge abundance of mIRC 6.x clients in this channel.

As a control, and to ensure that undernet is not populated entirely by mIRC users, I sampled another channel #philosophy. The findings show that mIRC is indeed popular, but it is not the only client on the network (as the above log makes it seem):

Originally Posted By: #philosophy

(00:07:10) -> [#philosophy] VERSION
(00:07:10) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.16 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6 Ubuntu
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.1 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: Colloquy 2.3 (4617) - Mac OS X 10.6.6 (Intel) - http://colloquy.info
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.31 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.12
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.1 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC32 v5.82 K.Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.3 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.1 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6 Ubuntu
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.34 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: dircproxy 1.2.0 - http://dircproxy.googlecode.com/
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: Quassel IRC v0.7.1 (dist-aa28596) (built on Sep 21 2010 20:00:44) -- http://www.quassel-irc.org
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.2 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.14
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.14 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.1 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.15 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 [x86_64/3.11GHz/SMP]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Linux 2.6.32.23-170.fc12.i686.PAE [i686/2.80GHz/SMP]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.14 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: Colloquy 2.3 (4617) - Mac OS X 10.6.3 (Intel) - http://colloquy.info
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Ubuntu
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: ZNC 0.076 - http://znc.sourceforge.net
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6-2 Windows Vista [AMD/2.00GHz]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.9 Windows 6.1 [i686/2.00GHz]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: PnP 4.22.2 - http://www.kristshell.net/pnp/
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6-2 Windows XP [Intel Pentium 4/2.70GHz]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.1 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.17 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.03 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.6 Linux 2.6.33.4 [x86_64/2.41GHz/SMP]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: Colloquy 2.3 (4617) - Mac OS X 10.6.6 (Intel) - http://colloquy.info
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: Colloquy 2.1 (3761) - Mac OS X 10.6.6 (Intel) - http://colloquy.info
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Linux 2.6.35.10-74.fc14.i686 [i686/1.00GHz/SMP]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.14
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.15 - running on Linux x86_64
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: PIRCH98:WIN 95/98/WIN NT:1.0 (build 1.0.1.1190)
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: PIRCH98:WIN 95/98/WIN NT:1.0 (build 1.0.1.1190)
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: ircN 7.27 + 7.0 - god money's not concerned with the sick amongst the pure -
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat-wdk 1464-5 (xchat-2.8.8) Windows 5.1 [x86/2.67GHz]
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.12
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.15 - running at Blinkenshell.org
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.31 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:11) [*** VERSION reply]: OS: (Windows 6.1 (Build #7600)) ¤ Up: (1m 1d 16h 59m 13s) ¤ CPU: (2 CPU's - Intel Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @, 3.00 GHz, (2% Load)) ¤ Mem: (Usage: 0/2048MB (0.00%)) ¤ (----------) ¤ HD: (Total/Free: 1.24/0.51TB)
(00:07:12) [*** VERSION reply]: I am using SystemInfo by C}{$ Version 1.5-r4! Download it @ http://scripts.phucknut.net/
(00:07:12) [*** VERSION reply]: SkUT3 (v1.0) by SkorpSSS ]|[ http://skorpsss.free.fr/
(00:07:12) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v7.1 Khaled Mardam-Bey
(00:07:12) [*** VERSION reply]: IceChat 7.70 20101031
(00:07:14) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.15 - running on FreeBSD i386
(00:07:14) [*** VERSION reply]: irssi v0.8.15 - running on FreeBSD i386
(00:07:15) [*** VERSION reply]: xchat 2.8.8 Linux 2.6.32-27-generic [i686/800.50MHz/SMP]
(00:07:16) [*** VERSION reply]: mIRC v6.35 Khaled Mardam-Bey


Of the 75 responses here, it's immediately clear that there is more client diversity in this channel. Clients like "Quassel", "PIRCH98" (which incidentally probably doesn't support UTF-8), irssi, Colloquy and IceChat are some we didn't see in the other sample. Also note the fairly large amount of 7.x clients here.

Therefore, this problem is pretty much an "mIRC only" phenomenon (with extremely minor exceptions). As more users upgrade to 7.x, more of them will start populating the utf-8 equivalent channel names, and the problem will disappear. Yes, you will have to move your channel, but no, it won't be such a big deal.

I'd make a graph to show this much more easily, but I don't have the time or energy, but feel free to use this data to do so.

- argv[0] on EFnet #mIRC
- "Life is a pointer to an integer without a cast"