I want to reflect on something that not many people will remember or would know about. This is even before my time, as I didn't start using mIRC until late 4.x or early 5.x... but something I've stumbled across anyway.
In earlier help files, the following passage was found under the section "Future Work". It read:
- mIRC was created for my own personal use and it now does much more than what I want it to do, so I'm quite happy with it. Nonetheless, I will try to release new updated versions periodically.
mIRC is not meant to be highly-configurable or comprehensive. It's meant to be quick, simple, and user-friendly, providing the user with the basic functions of an IRC client. I have gone to a lot of trouble to make things transparent... I hope no one notices.
My interpretation of protocols and commands may not be correct. If it appears that mIRC is not performing a function in a standard way, which you feel is important, tell me and I'll see if I can remedy the problem.
mIRC v4.0 "Final" (20th March 1996) was released and the Future Work section was removed from the help file. In its place this document appeared, under "The Author (and part-time Human Bean)":
I am going to include the whole thing, though rather long, to be historically accurate and because it's in my opinion one of Khaled's better writings... so it's worth a read.
- Greetings!
I am Khaled Mardam-Bey, residing at 68 Melbury Court, London W8-6NJ, United Kingdom.
Please note that I can't reply to emails, implement new ideas, or even fix bugs anymore. mIRC was created for my own personal use and it now does much more than what I want it to do, so I'm quite happy with it.
As a home user, you are under no obligation whatsoever to pay for this program.
However, kind contributions of all shapes and sizes are gratefully accepted at the above address. If you like mIRC and want to make a contribution, you can mail me a personal check for however much you think it's worth, or if that's too much then however much you can afford, and if you can't afford it then don't worry about it...
"Why is this the final version of mIRC?" is a good question, along with "Why is mIRC freeware?", "What's this thing you have about trout?", "What does the m in mIRC stand for?", and a few others I've been asked over the past year since mIRC was first released. I don't have any good answers to any of these but I can say that the answers to all of them are in some way or another related to my philosophy of life, my mental state at the time, the limits of my physical endurance, the urge to say "moo" every once in a while, my remarkable ability to perform silly walks, and in general... me.
Since its release a year ago, mIRC has grown from a small, quick hack into a fairly comprehensive and fun-to-use IRC client. However, it has also grown far beyond being a hobby for me... the increasing number of emails asking for support, the requests for features, the coding required, and now competitive IRC clients, have made it exhausting. The fact that over this whole year so few users helped me financially was an influence in my decision to give up working on mIRC.
I hope that mIRC has had a part to play in the making of new friendships, in the fostering of peaceful communication, and in the increased understanding and respect of other people and cultures. Well, maybe all of that is a bit too much to ask for :[/b]) but I do hope that mIRC has had an effect on peoples lives that's been more [b]positive than negative.
I hope you enjoy, and have enjoyed, using mIRC as much as I enjoyed creating it :[/b])
Khaled
The following version mIRC v4.1 "(final release 27th April 1996)" ammended the first paragraph to read.
- Please note that [b]I can't guarantee replies to emails. I do not plan to implement new features or bug fixes anymore since I am now working on other things. mIRC is not being developed further by anyone else. mIRC was created for my own personal use and it now does much more than what I want it to do, so I'm quite happy with it.
This was the final version of mIRC. No later versions of it were ever to be released again. mIRC was only 14 months old when it died, and to many people it meant the death of IRC. A combination of financial burden and the codemastrs of the time made mIRC impossible to support... and so the story ends.
Hark. Whats this you say..? A new release of mIRC has been announced? Glorious day!
On the 30th of June 1996, mIRC v4.5 "Shareware" debuted with a 30-day trial period and cost only $15 to register by check. It was later increased to $20 to cover the cost of credit card handling, and then a $10 option was also added for those less financially prepared.
This pivital moment in history marks a turning point which certainly has effected the lives of everyone who uses mIRC today. It's difficult to imagine how close we came to losing mIRC, even if it's just a windows chat program. Certainly if it weren't for mIRC, I would still be on *gasp* AOL Chat.
Since then, it has grown leaps and bounds and has become THE most robust program I know or care to use-- while being THE cleanest program I know, utilizing less resources than anything that's half as powerful. It still has bugs like any other program, but we're working on that.
I am posting this segment of mIRC's history for multiple reasons.
The simplest of these: This post explains exactly when and why mIRC became Shareware and "required you to pay". mIRC has been commercial software for just over 7 years and 3 months from the date of this post. Unlike most programs, this you actually get to "try before you buy". You're still obligated to buy after you try, though.
Secondly, I hope to spark some humility for those readers who tend to forget that mIRC is a one-man operation. I've actually been meaning to post this for some months now-- whenever I see posts that make demands of Khaled, or when I see feature suggestions that are so rediciously unrelated to mIRC that the forum groans in unison. Khaled may have continued work on it, but it still "does much more than what he wants it to do".
And lastly, just because I enjoy digging through historic documents relating to the internet when it was younger and still innocent. 1996-97 was an interesting time for the internet, with the population almost doubling monthly. The year of the busy signal. There's a lot of fun stuff to read in the old help files,
versions.txt, and the like. You really get a sense for how mIRC grew the ways it did, and why.
Btw Khaled, did Viv ever get her zillion rose petals? Why does she just get a smile now?
- Raccoon
(Note: Do not mail contributions to Khaled's old address. mIRC can be registered here.) 
