I'm considering mIRC as a "thin" chat solution on our (closed) network and have several questions... First, is the Exchange Chat Server the only "server" that supports IRC or is there another service that I can stand up for networks running 2000/2003, for instance?

In 2000/2003, is Win Messenger/Live Comm Server the equivalent of IRC? If not, will IRC adapt to something else or will it cease to exist?

Any info you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jim Snow
jsnow@ibaset.com

mIRC should be supported by any network which runs on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol. (Note: mIRC is just a client, not a chat system in and of itself)

IRC has been around for a very long time (hey, I first used it a decade ago... coming in by raw telnet in the days before mIRC even existed) and there are various flavours of it. It is continually evolving, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of public networks (searchirc.com regularly records a total of over one million users concurrently on the networks it monitors) and it is therefore very unlikely to "die out" just because it hasn't been assimilated by Windows.

PastMaster

IRC servers under windows are not the best solution.
there are some but all I know is that they are very buggy...

if you want to run an IRCd I would suggest using linux/freebsd which ofcourse isn't that easy to do but would get much better preformance

IRC servers under Windows are just as stable as under any other OS, anyone saying otherwise is either assuming, lying, or just plain wrong.

or not known with the right ircd's ;-]

like I said... all windows IRCd's I heard off are rather buggy

preply to jim: like I said, I don't know any good windows IRCd's... can't help you with that

PS: it's a Q not a G... I'm not an animal ;-]

Dognach.... Sounds like you have some experience with IRC and involved servers. Care to take a shot at my question(s)? Sure would appreciate your advice.....

Thanks,

Jim