What happened to mIRC, the ‘dinosaur’ of chat rooms and online chats?

“What Happened?” about software, brands, companies, products and services that have been successful in the past. continuing the series TecMundo remember today mIRC, One of the first programs for real-time conversations over the Internet. This application, which appeared before ICQ and MSN Messenger, is considered the “ancestor” of instant messaging programs.

It was created by Khaled Mardam-Bey in 1995. mIRC is a program that works as an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client for Windows. This protocol was developed in 1988 by Finnish college student Jarkko Oikarinen, who wanted to add live communication capabilities to BBS networks.

Responsible for introducing the concept of open chat rooms, IRC allowed anyone to join the network by installing a specific program on their computer and setting up a phone line to connect to the internet. mIRC is one of these “client software”.

To make the University of Oulu BBS more functional, Oikarinen developed the first IRC server. The institution’s network used to send messages once or twice a day began allowing group conversations and offering privileges to administrators Like banning users for bad behavior.

The emergence of the program

The first IRC network was born when people outside the academic environment were granted access that required the configuration of another server. A new expansion occurred when Oikarinen presented the concept to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

As the resource became popular among Americans, the number of servers and networks also increased rapidly. led to the creation of channels that served as the first version of chat rooms. Before they were online discussion forums organized by topic, they supported hundreds of users simultaneously.

In this context, mIRC was born almost 30 years ago when Khaled decided to create a program that would take advantage of the then-new virtual meeting place to talk to people from all over the world. All you had to do was download and install it on your computer.

While running the software, the user had to enter data such as name and e-mail, create a nickname by which he would be known in the virtual environment, and connect to the desired server. It was then possible to search through the list of available channels and participate in chats.

What did people do on mIRC?

Once the IRC client is ready for use, users can perform a wide variety of activities. Communicate with others, join group conferences, share files, play games and even work remotely were some of them.

A precursor to chat rooms, it was widely used for chatting online. All you had to do was choose a channel with your favorite theme (cities, music styles, software, movies, TV series, etc.), enter the chat, and participate in discussions, using a simple interface that differs from experiences in modern messengers. .

It was possible to have a private conversation with any of the participants, share the music you listened to and rise in status based on your contributions. There were also channels dedicated to games such as questions and answers, encouraging online fun.

Working similar to social networks, There were also rules and penalties for misbehaving in mIRC roomsSending spam, starting a fight, or violating other rules. Bullies can be warned or permanently banned by administrators if necessary.

User stamp

Classic software that revolutionized online communication, very popular between the second half of the 90s and the early 2000s began to lose relevance with other platforms with more user-friendly and simpler interfaces. Among them, it is worth mentioning MSN Messenger and ICQ, which are no longer produced.

These messengers had a more modern look and were full of features to facilitate the exchange of messages, including webcam support, which attracted millions of users around the world. Once upon a time, traditional chat rooms, as well as online discussion forums, could be accessed via browser.

Moreover, social networks began to gain steam in the first half of the 2000s with the birth of Orkut, Facebook, and even Reddit. By combining many functions found in the IRC client and introducing new features, they made many people put the old program aside.

Faced with a stampede of users, some of the main mIRC networks were shut down, as was the case with Brasnet in 2007. One of the most popular among Brazilians, It had 60 thousand concurrent users in 2003when you reach the top.

Does mIRC still work in 2024?

With the demise of many networks and the mass exodus of users, many believe that mIRC is over. But this is not true. the program still works and receives frequent updates.

At the time this text was written, The latest version is v7.78, released on November 6, 2024 for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and 11.. The software has a configurable interface and supports friend lists, file transfers, proxy, IPv6, SSL encryption, customizable sounds and voice messages, among other features.

mIRC can also be used to create applications that perform different functions, from networking to games, and there are also many discussion rooms that deal with different topics but are mainly technology related.

It is important to remember that The program can be tested free of charge for 30 days and at the end of the period it is necessary to purchase the usage license for US$ 19.95, which is equivalent to R$ 115.10 at the current price.