IRC Client duel (Mac OS X)

Many people in an IRC chat I frequent have told me that Xchat sucks. Well, I figure. I’ll take on a few IRC clients for OS X and take them on a test run. All clients tested are the most recent versions as of this blog post’s date.

First up is Ircle 3.1:

So I download Ircle via Firefox to my computer, and fire it up. I try to edit the server list to include the server I connect to. Guess what? Instant crash. We aren’t getting off to such a great start here.

So I reopen Ircle, and invoke the /server command to manually connect to the server. It connects fine. Whoohoo.

So let’s look at the commands. I test the one I use most often, which is /kick. In Xchat, the proper syntax is /kick nickname reason. Well with Ircle, it’s suddenly /kick #channel nick reason. What the hell is with that?

Another gripe with Ircle is it’s poor UI. Every channel opens in a different window. Everything looks primitive. Every little thing gains it’s own window, rather than being dropped into a drawer, or having everything hang off one main window, with tabs. Why is this?

For a pay-to-play client, these issues are unacceptable.

There seems to be no way to change any of this behavior, either. Moving on.

Price: $25.

Colloquy 2.1.

I will now take Colloquy 2.1 for a spin. Last time I used Colloquy, I thought it sucked. It’s got some major updates under it’s belt now, so I believe it’s time for a second look.

Upon starting, I get an opportunity to enter my nickname, and what server I want to connect to, and if I want it to remember said server. Brilliant! We are off to a great start.

It then opens a prompt for me to type my nickname password. Oh man, even more brilliance. I don’t have to /identify once I finally get on NexusNet.

So it connects pretty fast. How does it actually handle?

I use the /kick nickname command. Hallelujah! It actually works!

I also try to copy some text in and out of Colloquy. My god, the Timestamps are actually correctly placed now!

It even features iTunes integration too. That’s very nice, seeing as I have to install like three scripts to get that working under Xchat:

Anti is listening to I am the rain by Assemblage 23 from Failure

That’s sweet. I may actually switch to Colloquy if I really need to. There’s only one con: There’s absolutely no programming support, such as Python, Ruby, or the like right out of the box. Take that for what you will.

Also, Growl support is a major plus. Xchat has this, but it never seems to work.

Price: Free

MacIrssi.

I used MacIrssi a WHILE ago on my G4 about two years back. It looks like it’s been updated since, because I ditched it when I got a MacBook pro as it wasn’t intel-optimized. Let’s see where it’s gone now.

This is about as primitive as IRC can get here, folks. That should be no surprise as it’s based of Irssi, a UNIX chat client.

If minimalism is your game, then MacIrssi’s totally for you.

To get connected, you don’t pick out your server and click “Connect”. You have to manually type out /server irc.server.com to get started. And if you need to identify, there’s no such thing as /identify. You actually have to type /msg nickserv identify password.

For people used to a command line, MIrssi is a great client. Hell, I wouldn’t mind having it around. But having to identify each and every time using the full command gets real irritating for me, real fast.

You can change the themes and layout in the preferences dialog if you wish. There isn’t a great degree of customization for MIrssi.

But, in this case, that’s probably a good thing. MIrssi succeeds at being minimal. It’s not a half-bad client.

Price: Free

Snak.

Moving on, I gave Snak a try.

It opens up to a nice Setup Assistant. That’s a nice plus for people who are somewhat disturbed by going into /server commands and preference menus/dialog boxes.

Once that’s complete, it opens and throws you into a room, if you specified one in the setup assistant.

The interface is very familiar to devout Xchat followers like myself. Tabs across the top, userlist on the right, input box on the bottom…etc.

Unfortunately, while some commands work, you have to specify which channel you want to voice someone in, or which channel you want to kick someone in. /kick nickname doesn’t work here.

All in all, quickly glancing through the program, it seems to be very basic. Not sure if it’s worth the purchase price, however.

Price: $29USD

The winner?

I’m kind of tired, so I’ll end it here.

I’m really attracted to MacIrssi, but it’s not for me unless I’ve got time to kill.

I’ll have to say this is a tie between Xchat Aqua and Colloquy. Both are great clients in their own rights, and Colloquy has come a very long way since I last used it.