Well, to tell the truth I've been using it since '96 without popups or scripts, to me the most important aspect of an irc client is a good configuration with great readability, so: fonts, few good black/dark themes and a way to see highlights or save them in a different window/tab.
If you want to check how I archive my mIRC settings now...
https://filebin.net/ftnqzafmhi08ivcl 
