actually, none of those are used very commonly at all. to be honest, i don't see why they couldn't be added in aswell, though i don't think they'd be used as much as italics. itallics is commonly used and not just as an "attention getting" device, like people keep saying. it has specific meanings and usages. alot of the attention-getters used in irc are workarounds that were thought up because at the time none of the formatting items were possible.
as for a number - i've specifically mentioned it to about 20-30 people. none of them said they didn't want it, and most (15-20) said they did. i'm not gallup, i don't spend all my time running around asking people "hey, do you want mirc to do itallics?" and recording the responses.
and you seem to overestimate the number and type of people who check software forums. and the number of people who will actually post messages with no purpose save to aggree with something. as a general rule, only a small percentage of people make official feedback commentary on anything. also, it's far less likely to see people bother to come out in favor of something they want (unless it's something they consider to be a need), than against something they oppose.
oh, and stating "mIRC is a chat program" has no bearing. first of all, it's probably getting as much, or more, use as a file-exchange medium via fserves than chatting these days. chatting may have been it's original intended usage, but it's by no means all it's used for.
stating that "not everyone has the ability to use itallics" is like saying "not everyone can afford a sports car". just because i can't afford a porche doesn't mean i'd stop you from having one.
why on earth do you care if itallics are added in? it's not like somebody will hold a gun to your head and make you use them. heck, with control-code stripping, you don't even have to see it if other people use it...
if it's some wierd thing about itallics not being in "the standard", allow me to point out that nothing EVER gets added to a standard until somebody rams it down the throat of whichever comitee is responsible...
it's not like i'm requesting picture avatars. (yet...)
