No they're not, they're just the most popular. It's the same thing with smilies... people see others asking for it and they say to themselves (we know this to be true from posts here), "I dont want mirc turning into MSN". Why do they say that? Because MSN (and the like) are "second generation" chat programs; they have a newer interface, features, protocal, etc and this new chatting option has the ability to use smilies (video and voice too). If you'll notice the trend in chatting, those that are NOT strictly IRC based clients tend to have all those other options people want. IF that's the case, then you have 2 choices: 1) IRC 2) IM and since IRC is not IM, they see it as a bad progression. Unfortunately, people see, video, voice and smilies as a thing MOSTLY associated with IM programs and dont want mirc to turn into another damned IM program.
Let's flip this the other way tho. Why DONT other people see a difference between IM and IRC? Because these days IMs are emulating IRC more and more by offering rooms to chat in. It makes it confusing where the line is drawn between IRC and IM. People see IM as the "2nd generation" IRC which it isnt but they feel that if it's the "natural progression", then they want mirc to have all the same features they're other "IRC" programs have
