I don't have any problem with mIRC having 'emoticon' support, but, like others, ONLY if it can easily and permanently be disabled.
Actually, I think that 'icon' support would be more to the point. A simple text to icon replacement in the chosen windows. Anyone familiar with some versions of the Invision forum software would know what I am talking about. There could be a tab in the config window that simply has this:
TEXT: ICON:
:) c:\icons\happy.gif
:( c:\icons\sad.gif
:D c:\icons\teeth.gif
Obviously there would be more options for each item (wildcard or plain text, in nicknames and/or text, etc). If the 'text' could be anything that the user wanted, then the icons could have other uses as well, such as a crude censor mechanism. Example:
bitch c:\icons\dog.gif
pussy c:\icons\cat.gif
fag c:\icons\cigarette.gif
fuck c:\icons\censor.gif
Personally, I don't think I would use the feature if it was available, but I can see how it would be handy.
-genius_at_work