I remember people saying they wouldn't upgrade to 6.0 or whatever version it was when Khaled changed the '***' to '*' in the event messages. I really don't see what's so bad about the new look of mIRC. So what if it has toolbar grips? Yes, I agree that they should only be there if you can move the toolbar around like the switchbar, but who knows? Maybe Khaled is planning on allowing that and just hasn't finished it yet.
