HexChat
HexChat is a fork of XChat with bug fixes and new features.
HexChat is an IRC client based on 
XChat for Linux , but unlike XChat it’s completely free for both Windows and Unix-like systems.
HexChat was originally called XChat-WDK which in turn was a successor of freakschat.
Features
Easy to use and customizable interface
Cross-platform on Windows, OS X, and Unix-like OSes
Highly scriptable with Python and Perl
Translated in multiple languages
Fully open source and actively developed
Multi-network with auto-connect, join, and identify
Spellcheck, Proxies, SASL, DCC support and more
XChat for Linux , but unlike XChat it’s completely free for both Windows and Unix-like systems.HexChat was originally called XChat-WDK which in turn was a successor of freakschat.
Features
Easy to use and customizable interface
Cross-platform on Windows, OS X, and Unix-like OSes
Highly scriptable with Python and Perl
Translated in multiple languages
Fully open source and actively developed
Multi-network with auto-connect, join, and identify
Spellcheck, Proxies, SASL, DCC support and more
Comments and Reviews
Category
Social & CommunicationsPlatform details
Mac: https://github.com/philicious/hexchat/releases/tag/2.12.4
Windows: All version after 2.9.4 are Windows Vista+ only
MacPorts: Requires XQuarts
Tags
- Chat Clients
- xchat
- xfce
- IRC Clients
Pidgin's notifications don't work all the time.
I've used xchat2, the silverex build, the "official" build.. this is the best build for windows so far. But, it still has TONS of bugs (current git count is around 200) and the devs can barely keep up with "urgent security updates" much less making config files consistently read and write well.
The scripting APIs are good. There's a big library of scripts out there, also good. There's spellcheck.
But it's soooo buggy. Internet connection having issues? Crashes. SSL problems? Crashes. (it still doesn't do good SSL!) connected to a bouncer? Crashes.
It's not perfect. It's okay.
I use it in Linux Mint and I haven't been disappointed by it. It has options like word highlighting, user name highlighting etc. The overall look is also good. It can also be minimized to tray.
Because is the best alternative to chatzilla
Best fully open source IRC client software