Quassel IRC

Experienced PC users should remember the old days of mIRC. Quassel is tool similar to it, a simple-to-use IRC client based on the Qt4 framework, that enables you to connect to worldwide channels and have conversations with other users, find out more details about them, and more. It features some intuitive settings.

Customizable setup package and initial configuration

The installation procedure does not take a long time to finish, and you can include or exclude the client and core components from the setup.
At startup you can follow simple wizard steps to set up your default identity and IRC network connection by tinkering with some standard settings, such as real name and aliases, default away message, along with network name, servers and automatic channel joining.

Simple interface and options

The GUI is pretty simplistic, represented by a regular window with a well-structured layout that displays log details in the main frame. You can connect to channels and broadcast messages or send them to other users privately, customize font settings, zoom in and out, as well as add users to an ignore list.
Some basic networking commands are available, namely Whois, Ping, Version, Time and Client Info. Moreover, Quassel lets you hide any kind of events, delete chats and configure the chat list, enter full screen mode, as well as remap keyboard shortcuts, among others.

Evaluation and conclusion

CPU and RAM consumption was minimal in our tests, so the program shouldn't hamper system performance. It connected to chat rooms rapidly and did not trigger Windows to hang, crash or pop up error dialogs. To sum it up, Quassel should come in handy to all users looking to easily connect to IRC channels and perform various actions.