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IRC Client Opinions
There are many IRC Clients available for Macintosh (as I said before) and many of them work differently. I personally have used many of them and here are my opinions on the 4 main ones for Macintosh. Hopefully my opinions will entice you into what YOU think would be a good program for you.
- Ircle [ homepage ]: Ircle is by far, the most common IRC Client on the Mac. I believe it works for OS 9 and OS X because it is carbonized. However, seeing as I use OS 9, I am not up-to-par on Ircle's progress and interface on OS X. So if you are on OS X, it might be a bit harder. I assume the interface is the same, but I wouldn't know. Ircle has the most features, and the most built-in default chat network and server lists to choose from. It's great and works very well. Its downsides are that it is a tad slow, and of course, ShareWare.
- MacIRC [ homepage ]: MacIRC is a program that I unfortunatly do not have much experience with. It works for OS 9 and OS X, but from what I've heard, it is imcomplete, and I wouldn't call it the best IRC Client available. In fact, I would call it one of the worst Mac IRC Clients available; even though it was once considered Ircle's main competition. That's really all I have to say about it... I'm pretty sure it is unsupported, though, and I have heard bad things about it. I would much rather go for ShadowIRC, Snak, or Ircle.
- ShadowIRC [ homepage ]: Here we are, the program that I, Varter, use as my official IRC Client. ShadowIRC does NOT have as many features as Ircle, which is a downside. It also does not have as many built-in network or server lists and the interface a bit more difficult to navigate. As a result, I believe ShadowIRC is for the more experienced users of IRC. One of the great things about ShadowIRC is that although it does not have as many features as Ircle, it could have. Instead, the maker of ShadowIRC (DShadow - www.dshadow.com) decided to sacrifice those—what most people considered useless—features and lists, making ShadowIRC a much more faster, and stable program; which is why I use it.
- Snak [ homepage ]: Snak is now what most consider Ircle's main competition. Over the years, Snak has developed from a rather empty client to an outstanding multi-featured client while the Ircle-loving counterparts are stranded on the "river up updates". Unlike all other clients, Snak contains all channels and consoles in one window, with a menu at the top to switch between channels; a very organized display. Though I, personally, am not that fond of Snak, I would recommend it for users who like everything contained, without sacrificing useful features. It's an overall nice client, except one of the downsides it possesses is, like Ircle, it doesn't come free. Which means Snak is also a ShareWare product...
There you have it, my honest and humble opinions on the major IRC clients for Macintosh. If you want more professional information on these clients (and other clients) then check out this Macintosh Client Page @ irchelp.org. If you need help setting up a client, read my instructions here.
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