Latest build

zsIRC 2009.12.26 - see download page!

News

2010. 12. 23.
Merry christmas: zsIRC opensource.
2010. 05. 12.
Let's see if this Flattr thing works out.
2009. 12. 26.
ZOMG NOT DEAD
  • Added: Multi-server support
  • Fixed: Incorrect CTCP reply

So yeah, This might be weird, given that multi-server was supposed to be a luxury feature, but as you can read in the FAQ, zsIRC is a client I make for my own personal needs, and as such, sometimes the changes happen in a fairly subjective order. (In other words, I've been lacking multi-server more than DCC, etc.)

You can switch between the servers by opening the context-menu on the status window. I know this is suboptimal for non-touchscreen devices, but I haven't really figured out a way yet.

So yeah. Not dead yet. Reason for the lack of updates is one part long and boring, and one part long and less boring. (In short, my iPAQ is officially dockstation-bound.)

2009. 02. 07.

I recently ran across this post, which is once again a proof that yes, IRC does work in a commercial environment, which I can understand in a way - after all, it's a fairly no-frills protocol, which makes it suitable for all sorts of hackery.

Then again, it's strange. See, in my experience, or at least first hand impression, less and less people use IRC. I don't know why that is, although I have to relate to part of it - my first ever IRC experience around '95 was pretty dodgy considering that I had to accidentally find a magazine article that spilled what servers are available in Hungary, and generally it was a lot less intuitive... but that was before Google times - I guess the situation eased up somewhat with the tides of information available.

So why do people IRC less? (If they do.) I've come to discover in the recent times that e.g. Skype's persistent chat/channel thingy is very much like IRC in terms of keeping a channel alive, with the added luxury of leaving your client in even if you're offline - something a lot of people do via BNC's and all that anyway. Another important thing about that (and new IM's in general) is that IRC offers no authentication as such: posing as someone else is ridiculously easy, although it's been literally years since I last saw even a ban, let alone a takeover or something.

And then there's the whole high-level issue of privacy: when you join IRC, you pretty much accept the fact that people will see your IP address and all that. With other IM's, this is carefully occluded by the company who designs the protocol and the client (for the most part). Skype even offers a load of privacy options in case you only want chats from people on your list - which, admittedly, makes joining groupchats a whole lot more tedious and I still don't understand why there can't be a confirmation window, but oh well.

Ultimately, IRC's charm comes from the simplicity and the community, which is why I guess it's still very much revered by e.g. the open-source crowd - but we have to admit that it's a niche thing. I mean, sure, even Microsoft gave it a shot (see Comic Chat), Unreal Tournament implements it, a lot of flash chatrooms are based on it, mostly because they want to avoid reinventing the wheel. But in the end it all boils down to what one wants from a chat client - Skype and MSN and Google Talk are pretty much fire-and-forget, while IRC clients are always a bit fiddly if you want them to work the way it's convenient for you.

As a closing note, I would like to cite a story that enforces the notion that IRC is in fact a phenomenon: I was at a film festival some years ago, talking about the demoscene as usual, and a young lady working at a major film studio asked as the question - "Where do demosceners usually hang out? What's the main communication line?" So we told her about BBS's back then, and later IRC. Her eyes opened wide open and she said: "IRC?! I haven't been on IRC since I was 17!"

2008. 12. 28.
...and another one for the champagne.
I'm on fire!
  • Added: Button-sort on channel bar
  • Added: Automatic accepting or refusal of secure certificates
  • Added: Keepalive ping
  • Added: Check for zsIRC updates on connect
  • Fixed: Wrong sort order of nicks
  • Fixed: Silly color bug on channel highlight

I'd like to give some credit to the V8D guys which I forgot last time for helping me out with a few things. Thanks!

As for today's amusing news, Miranda apparently recognizes zsIRC as a client and they even remade the icon to a better looking one - or at least their TRAC suggests so. It really means a lot, so if you happen to know someone who's a dev at Miranda, give them a hug! (Also, their rendition of the icon looks much better, I wonder if I'm allowed to nick it.)

2008. 12. 07.
HO HO HO, MERRY HANGOVER!
So yeah, new release as promised!
  • Added: SSL / secure connection support (well that was easy!) Use /serversecure <servername> [port] to connect via SSL.
  • Fixed: Proper handling of prefixes on channels and nicks
  • Updated: changed around the options window a bit, now it should be friendlier towards Smartphones. (IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to get the focus back from the tabs to the input fields, PRESS SPACE.)
  • Added: /wintitle command now sets window title (Thanks to wParam for the idea.)
Thanks to m0nkee for testing!
Also, as a minor note, I'd like to let you all know that I actually lost the sources a week ago, and then miraculously recovered it safe and sound - so no more complaints about me not being dedicated enough!
2008. 06. 24.
Whoa:
2008. 05. 13.
Just a quick one:
I removed that annoying beep on Enter for some smartphone devices - thanks to JCO for the (fairly short) testing.
2008. 02. 28.
New release for the Smartphone users.
  • Fixed: Removed dependency to commdlg.dll, so it runs on more devices.
  • Added: Smartphone softkey menu support! It should autodetect the device so you get the best menu you can.
  • Updated: Changed update url to use http://zsirc.com
Big big biiiiiiig thanks go to Fixato for the domain and Negg for the Smartphone testing!

Question towards Smartphone coders: Is there a way to create a .CAB that's unisex for both Pocket PC and Smartphones? 'cos right now Smartphone users have to use the .zip. (Use the forum.)
2008. 02. 07.
Phew. It took me THIS long to realize how much this project certainly outgrew the size I originally expected it to be...

This calls for some refreshing:
  • FiXato registered zsIRC.com which is currently just a redirect, but I'll make sure it will be pointing here permanently. So use that, it's shorter. Big big thanks for him - it certainly made me realize that people actually care about the client.
  • I'm getting sort of bored of the design here, especially because I want to do a proper webforum with logins, etc.
  • I seriously need an admin interface for this news. (Yes, I am typing in this as an SQL query as we speak.)
  • ...new version of the client would be nice too.
So yeah. I'm alive, and I check the forums regularly, it's just that e.g. I just moved flats and I don't even have furniture right now, so at the moment, zsIRC is lower priority than upgrading my daily sleep from inflatable mattress to normal bed.

Please bear with me in the meantime, ok?
2007. 12. 30.
Another quick bugfix
Yesterday actually, but still. Nicks disappeared sometimes, now it's fixed. (Thanks Robby)
2007. 12. 04.
I've been eyeballing secure connections for a while, but here's a question for someone with a bit more knowledge on the subject. If answered, I might be able to add the feature.
2007. 11. 07.
Quick bugfix
Just a quick fix for the semicolon bug in scripting - thanks to AmigaHeret.
2007. 10. 21.
Ooh crikey! New version!
Added automatic triggering. Enjoy.

Also, zsIRC failed to become a finalist in the PocketPCMag contest - which is unfortunate, but thanks for all the support anyway!
2007. 07. 03.
zsIRC was officially nominated as Best PocketPC IRC application by PocketPCMag. Honestly, I have no clue how much this means, but it sounds nice... I guess. Use the forums if you have an opinion!
2007. 06. 07.
Maintenance note: If you had problems downloading the .CAB file, because PocketIE would download it as text, please retry now! The needed MIME-type was added to the list, so it should work now - please note in the forums if it does or doesn't.
2007. 05. 27.
Just a quick fix.
  • Fixed: Timestamp option failed to work in the options dialog
  • Fixed: Stripping of leading ':' (DOOOOOOOOH!)
2007. 04. 24.
Some screenshots of the GUI running: (click click!)
vtec kicked in yo vtec kicked in yo vtec kicked in yo
Enjoy!
2007. 04. 23.
HOLY SMOKES IT HAS GUI! AND STUFF.
  • Added: .CAB installer
  • Added: Options GUI (!!!)
  • Fixed: Some servers/proxies return only \n instead of \r\n
So yeah, hope you enjoy the fact that zsIRC is an actual PocketPC application now! I really want feedback on this one so don't be shy to use the forums, if you have anything to say.
2007. 03. 28.
Here's an inbetween update:
1. The first zsIRC donation has arrived, in the total sum of €0.01 EUR - thanks! (*makes triumphant "I told you it will work"-face*)
2. I'm currently working on a new version which I plan to release after Breakpoint - new features will include the usual bugfixes, GUI (!), CAB installer and maybe DCC too (depending on my mood), so keep a sharp lookout!
2007. 03. 03.
Important update!
  • Fixed: Added option for offscreen buffering - read .ini for details!!
  • Fixed: ACTION in query windows
I got noted that the anti-flickering code removes smoothing from VGA fonts (which is strange, but it must be something I overlook), so now you can choose the lesser of two evils. Please note me on the forum if it's better now.

In other news, I just started the basics for a little GUI code, so cross your fingers.
2007. 02. 27.
Yay.
  • Fixed: Flickering
  • Fixed: ForegroundColor didn't work
  • Added: Codepage parameter in .ini
The codepage code might be a bit iffy since it attempts to actually detect whether a certain line fits your chosen encoding, and if it doesnt, it falls back to ANSI. Just try it out.
2007. 02. 11.
WOW IT'S STILL ALIVE!1
Finally installed a devenv and now you can happily use the next version!
  • Fixed: Removed silly deprecated VERSION reply
  • Fixed: Resolving code was broke with IP-s
  • Added: ForegroundColor parameter in .ini (DOH!)
  • Added: StripColorCodes parameter in .ini
As you might have noticed, updates are a bit scarce nowadays - the reason for that is my lack of an Internet connection at home. This kindof kills testing and such, but regardless, I'll try to churn out some new versions every now and then.
2007. 02. 05.
Just a short note that I'm still alive, and I installed a development environment on my laptop now, so a new version might be happening soon.
In other news, I recently got a mail from Brook Miles, author of PocketIRC; I deduct that he too is also still around, so you might expect a new version of PIRC too!
2006. 11. 29.
Just a little share of download stats:
zsIRC v2006.10.28 crossed the 1000 mark for unique downloads and is currently at 1337 at non-unique ones. (Funny lulz.) I think it's pretty impressive in ~30 days from a freeware IRC client for a polarized platform, don't you? (Please say it is, otherwise I'll be all demotivated.)
2006. 11. 14.
No update this time, sorry; however, from now on, you can relieve your usual everyday pressure and headaches by donating some of your hard-earned dimes to me for no particular reason. You can do so and feel delighted here.
2006. 10. 28.
OH NOES ANOTHER UPDATE
Been a while. Kinda busy nowadays, sorry.
  • Fixed: Bad logging format
  • Fixed: Space delimiting
  • Added: PassCommandsRaw parameter in .ini
  • Added: Ctrl-enter disregards leading slash
  • Added: WHOWAS reply
2006. 09. 09.
New release
Still not dead! Made a minor update, mainly fixes and finally a test for the copy function.
  • Fixed: Forced disconnect broke reconnect
  • Fixed: Cut/copy to clipboard (sheesh)
  • Added: Temporary copy solution - click on a line to copy the entire line to clipboard (I know, not perfect, but this is the most I can provide right now)
Big thanks to Menneisyys for this really nice review - my response is that all those "con"'s are temporary and will be added/fixed soon. In other news, rumours persist that PayPal will be available for money reception to Hungary as well somewhere around the course of next week. Would YOU spare a dime? :)
2006. 07. 24.
As some of you might have noticed, the update-check feature didn't work. This was because I automated the feature by PHP, and hence the server switched to chunky mode transfer and it was unparsable for the client. Long story short, it's fixed now.
2006. 07. 23.
New release
This time it's more the conventience factor.
  • Fixed: Multi-line /names.
  • Fixed: Weird crashbug on disconnect.
  • Fixed: Empty notices (--)
  • Fixed: Moving down in the buffer preserves previous line
  • Fixed: Linebreak after session closed in logs
  • Fixed: double popup of context-menus
  • Fixed: Editbox didnt adapt to rotation
  • Added: /invite
  • Added: Nick-complete on TAB
  • Added: stuff ;)
Feel free to review the to-do list and comment in the forum or to send screenshots from various devices.
2006. 07. 20.
New release, critical update
Bugs, bugs, bugs... (damn) Get this update as soon as you can (crashbugs!)
  • Fixed: Word-wrap bug that caused zsIRC to hang up completely
  • Fixed: Bug in settings loader caused server name to reset
  • Fixed: Autoconnect didn't work (jeez)
  • Fixed: Empty notify list didn't compute (JEEZ)
  • Added: Support for BACK button on Smartphones (Please test/try this and report to the forum, I only have one device)
2006. 07. 12.
New release
This time it's some requested features.
  • Fixed: Weird JOIN's without delimiting colon
  • Fixed: Much better wordwrap
  • Added: Multi-line paste
  • Added: Notify list
On a sidenote, I had a brief idea of having a "phone home" feature, which would send back your nickname and possibly the server to this site and it would be listed as "XYZ is using zsIRC on irc.abc.lol at 2006-%d-%d". Think of it as an automated on-demand testimonial. Drop a note into the forum if you have an opinion.
2006. 07. 07.
New release
Finally back from the horrible world of NO INTARWEB \o/ Site got updated a bit, RSS feed and forum, shiny new menu, stuff like that.
  • Added: Rewrote setting system, added /set
  • Fixed: Fixed the networking
  • Fixed: Timestamp parsing
  • Fixed: Nickchange made user lose op/voice
  • Added: Version info to about + introductory text
  • Added: Update check + homepage link
  • Added: Autoconnect
  • Added: Server password
  • Added: Option to close windows or rejoin
If you have zsIRC running on a device not available in the screenie gallery, feel free to send a shot. (Of course if it looks identical to the existing ones then don't.)
Also, mad props for winportal.net for actually re-photoshopping the logo... But guys, you can just ask for a copy next time...