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#227940 29/11/10 05:32 AM
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Lloyd_B Offline OP
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Before anyone replies to this about the obvious previous statements about mIRC never being ported to linux, Mac, and other OS's, I understand all that, but it won't stop people from at least suggesting this idea anyway. So, please don't say that I'm stupid. The simple fact that people still request other ports simply states how much people appreciate mIRC and think enough of Khaled's work to want it to be on other platforms.

Ok, with that said, I would like to at least suggest that a mobile version of mIRC be eventually be considered. Within this mobile suggestion, I would like the iOS platform be considered for such hardware as iPod Touch and the iPad. I'm aware that other IRC apps already exist for those but they don't compare to mIRC.

Just to give my view of mIRC, I've been using mIRC since about late '95 to early '96. I've been a paying customer since 2000 and have helped many other people get a valid code/licence. I've done this because I believe in mIRC and desire to support Khaled's hard work. Also, I maintain a chat room with many staff and I prefer they use mIRC, so I decided to pay for my staff's copies and keep it legal. So, each person has their own legal code using their own name. All this is just to state how much I believe in mIRC and my support. This also shows why I'd like a port of mIRC to be made to another platform other than Microsoft's Windows platforms.

I believe that mIRC is one of the top IRC clients in existence. I've been a faithful customer for as long as I've been able to be one. I can only ask that porting mIRC or a new version be made for these other platforms. Even if it's not done, I will still support mIRC and hope that it's done in the future. Until then, I will be patient and keep using mIRC.

To everyone who reads this, thank you for your time, and hopefully your understanding in my pursuit in my desire to have mIRC be made for other systems. If Khaled reads this, thank you for your time sir, and thank you for making my favorite IRC client.



Lloyd
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Hoopy frood
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Please read this thread.

Just because you prefix your request with your knowledge of Khaled's opinion on the situation, doesn't make it any more likely to happen. Khaled has never indicated anything that might lead you to believe he would port mIRC to another platform. He mentioned he "wants to" port to multi-platform, but this would probably never include platforms such as iOS or mobile devices, since "multi-platform" applications are strictly banned from being on Apple's app store (they must work exclusively on iOS) and I don't know of any "multi-platform" languages/frameworks that work across desktop and mobile envrionments alike. Khaled is not interested in maintaining two versions of mIRC-- he's made this clear in the FAQ above.

Furthermore, there are IRC clients for the platforms you mentioned. Use those. You really don't need scriptability on iOS, for instance, which is the one feature that makes mIRC stand out from the others, so I'm not even sure why you care about that one in particular.


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Hoopy frood
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I personally think any irc client for a cell phone, even with the "super huge" 4.5" screens, is rediculous. There's not enough space to make it worth while and yes, I know punch to zoom and all that.... it's just not realistic to have something, especially mirc, on such a tiny screen. Sure, they may have them already, but that doesn't change my opinion. When screens start getting even larger than they are now, then MAYBE I'll change my standpoint


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Hoopy frood
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I agree, but to make IRC realistically "clear" on a small screen, you pretty well have to have at least double that 4.5"

I use mIRC (and a few other programs) on one of the original netbooks, and it only has a 9" screen. Then again, if I want to view more than about 6 channels at a time, I can't do it, as the screen is too small to show the channels and any kind of decent chat in them.

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Pan-dimensional mouse
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Have those of you hating on smartphone IRC clients actually used one before? I find IRC clients very easy to use on my 3.2" smartphone. It's not much different from text messaging really.

But that doesn't matter anyway. There are already dozens of IRC clients available for the various smartphone platforms. The way you would design an IRC client for a smartphone is completely different from the way you'd design one for a PC. Most of the "features" of mIRC wouldn't really carry over effectively to a smartphone platform so it doesn't make sense.

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Hoopy frood
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just to be clear, Im not against IRC on smartphones, I just don't see the usability to be worthwhile due to size limitations. you clearly are of an opposing line of thought, and that's fine smile


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Hoopy frood
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I have attempted to use IRC on a smartphone, and found it to be too difficult. Now, I'm not saying that IRC for smartphones is a bad idea, I am saying that I wasn't able to use it with a decent amount of ease.

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Vogon poet
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It all depends on the client, I've seen plenty of bad clients for smartphones, but there's decent ones around as well. I personally use zsIRC for my windows mobile smartphone, which works quite well, even though my screen isn't all that big.

Using a small font (this goes for netbooks as well) helps a lot, but it all depends on how small a font you can handle.


http://zowb.net

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Pan-dimensional mouse
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@OP:
I would dare say that even if Khaled created an iPhone/Android/WP7/whatever app, that it wouldn't be anything like mIRC.

Let's face it, mIRC is great because of what it is - and it would be no-where near similar on a mobile phone.
The IRC clients on mobile are somewhat lacking, but I can't think of a realistic way to improve many of them (on my 4.3inch display)

I'm guessing that if it did (and I doubt it would) it would not be remotely similar to mIRC.


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Nutrimatic drinks dispenser
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Just thought I would chime in on an older thread.

I've been an AndChat user on Android for quite some time now and up until recently, it's been my first choice for Android IRC and has worked quite well. However, with some recent changes made that I don't care much for, I was thinking to myself this same thing... I've been a dedicated mIRC user since the mid 90's and am amazed that Khaled never picked up on the Android market yet with his product.

Sure, there would be some differences between mIRC and mIRC Mobile, but I have faith that he could make a great product as he has for all these years.

Last edited by Mystic316; 30/12/11 10:08 PM.
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Hoopy frood
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The issue is that the bar is low for an IRC client on a handheld device... which means competing for "a good product" isn't really a useful thing to do. A "good" IRC client on a handheld is just something with an input box, channel buffer, optional nicklist and a displaying of channel events. Multiple server/channels included, of course. A pretty UI would be icing on the cake. There are lots of apps that can compete in that field. There is nothing really special about doing any of those things. Everything that makes mIRC special would be gone, so the competition would be who could best market their "buffer window with an input box", which is probably just a crapshoot. I can't confirm this with certitude, but it seems to me that the reason Khaled still enjoys working on mIRC is because he is producing something that is truly not being duplicated by anybody else. I don't think he is really interested in writing an IRC client "just 'cause", or reinventing the wheel. It's hard to innovate in a space where the only user requirements are: "connect to server(s), join channel(s), send text, receive text".

And I'd echo what The_JD said about a port not really being "mIRC" at all. I could swear there was another thread on this topic very recently where I basically said the same thing, but I can't find it right now.


- argv[0] on EFnet #mIRC
- "Life is a pointer to an integer without a cast"

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