Internet Relay Chat (mostly called "IRC", due to the acronym for "Internet Relay Chat"), is probably the largest chat network in the world. Those who think AIM is, you are mistaken, my friend, by a very very large margin. For one, AIM can only have one person on one screen name. However, there may be many "Varter"s on IRC. At the same time, but not on the same server, of course. IRC starts off with many networks, that branch off to servers, which branch off to channels, and finally, to the users themselves.

There are many IRC networks, and thousands of servers with millions of channels and users. Among my favorite networks are (of course) Ambrosia, GWS, Undernet. I cannot list the specific servers I use in most cases, however, because not all are the same on all computers and in all locations, and you can find detailed lists of appropriate servers on the websites I just provided. You will understand if/when you download an IRC Client.

Though, I should say that, there are certain servers that you may use that will act as a wildcard, automatically connecting you to an open server on the network, which is an appropriate and preferred choice for many users. For example on ChatNet, you have irc.chatnet.org, which when used by your IRC client, will contact the network, and connect you to an available server; because certain servers only permit a certain amount of connections. Wildcard servers are rarely brought up on the specific websites, due to the fact they like to advertise everything in order to gain success and give the specific server administrators full credit. However, if you look at certain special sites, they might give you many Wildcard servers... ;)

There are many IRC clients available for Macintosh (No, I don't provide Windows links—get lost.)

• Ircle - www.ircle.com
• ShadowIRC - www.shadowirc.com
• MacIRC - www.macirc.com
• Snak - www.snak.com (Notice anything with the last 4 clients/websites? :D)

Click here for my personal opinions on each IRC client. Or you can go here for steps on how to set it up.

I, personally, use ShadowIRC just because it's free. But if you don't mind ShareWare, then I recommend Ircle because it has the most features (like buttons ^_^). It is also the most easiest to use and understand, while having the most server lists for each network. If you need help, I highly suggest this site that will help you greatly in the areas of IRC:

http://www.irchelp.org/

That site above is wonderful for new IRC users, and old ones as well, because it shows you absolutely everything. Once you get familiar with it, if you want to know the most popular networks, servers, and channels, I highly recommend this site:

http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/

That site right there will show you the most popular networks, and list you the most popular servers for those networks. It will even then tell you the most popular channels on each network. It's extraordinary for IRC chatting. Using that site will ease you greatly when configuring your server list and channel shortcuts.

If you ever try to go looking for me on IRC, you will most likely find me in #macintosh on Undernet and #chat on irc.gws.org. All under the nickname Varter. So if you're looking for me on IRC, that's your best bet at where to find me...