IRC

IRC or Internet Relay Chat, is a global real-time conversational system.IRC allows two or more people to talk or chat, over the Internet. IRC allows users in different locations to converge into one chat room and have a real-time discussion, similar to a conference call or party line. The difference is that you type your contributions rather than speak directly. There are chat channels for most topic you care to mention.

Fundamental to the operation of IRC is the concept of a channel. Each channel is one conversation. When you join IRC, you enter the null channel first, and will be unable to send any messages until you enter a chatting channel, unless you have set up a private conversation in some way.

The number of channels is essentially unlimited. Discussion topics are many and varied.

IRC is networked throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Everything you type will instantly be transmitted around the world to other users who are connected to your channel. They can then respond to your messages.

The many server hosts of Internet Relay Chat throughout the network are connected via a tree structure. They relay control and message data among themselves to advertise the existence of other servers and their users, and the channels and other resources being occupied by those users.

All that is needed for IRC is an Internet connection and an IRC client program. To get help while using IRC, type /help and follow the instructions.

Free IRC Clients
http://www.icechat.net - Windows
http://www.xchat.org - Linux/Windows

Commercial IRC Client
http://www.mirc.co.uk - Windows - Available as a 30 day Trial