Rating and comments for XChat

To me, the best IRC client for linux without a doubt! very nice interface to go with great features.

The Windows version is not free. It has a 30-day trial, then the developers require a US$19.95 payment to register it. For Linux this may be a great FOSS tool, but for Windows it is not.

Costs for Windows, yet open source? Okay....

Well that is bullshit Windows hating for you.

there are free versions of xchat for win32, like the ones from silverex.org or zerostress.org... you could list those aswell, instead of saying it's paid.

It is still open-source for Windows too. You can download the source and compile it yourself, for no charge even. Thankfully Silverex has done it for you already. ;) This and HydraIRC are both excellent IRC clients for Windows.

Thank you to whoever recommended silverex.org. This is a great chat client, but adding persistent registry hooks and surprise charges after 30 days is entirely inconsistent with the spirit of open source software.