Download XChat for Windows 2.4.0

A week ago we already mentioned XChat 2.4.0, one of the most used IRC programs on the Linux platform, and also available for Windows. At that time, this version was still free and available under GPL license. Now, however, a new version for Windows has appeared on that same website, strangely enough with the same version number. Even more remarkable, however, is that this version is now released as shareware, because after a trial period of thirty days, you have to pay twenty dollars for it. In the FAQ we find the following:

Q. Why isn’t the Windows version free?
A. Building X-Chat for Windows is a difficult process, it requires quite some skill and expertise to accomplish. It takes time, and is by no means automated.

The source code however, is still available under GPL license. The changelog for this release looks like this:

News for 2.4.0:

• Added support for complex script shaping (uniscribe). If you set the environmental variable “XCHAT_UNISCRIBE”, it will turn on, but text display and scrolling may be slower. This is only needed by some languages, eg Thai. This is only experimental!
• Fixed refresh of window while scrolling when another window was on top. Details:
• Menus and tooltips now have a drop shadow on XP.
• The TCL plugin has been recompiled with ActiveTcl 8.4.7.0.
• The Python plugin has been recompiled with Python 2.3.4.
• Included the choice of installing the 2.0.x style black color scheme.