<s>
mIRC	B-Language
is	O
an	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Relay	I-Protocol
Chat	I-Protocol
(	O
IRC	B-Protocol
)	O
client	B-Protocol
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
created	O
in	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
fully	O
functional	O
chat	O
utility	O
and	O
its	O
integrated	B-Language
scripting	I-Language
language	I-Language
makes	O
it	O
extensible	B-Architecture
and	O
versatile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
IRC	B-Protocol
clients	O
available	O
for	O
Windows.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
been	O
downloaded	O
over	O
40	O
million	O
times	O
from	O
CNET	O
's	O
Download.com	B-Application
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
,	O
Nielsen/NetRatings	O
ranked	O
mIRC	B-Language
among	O
the	O
top	O
ten	O
most	O
popular	O
Internet	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
was	O
created	O
by	O
Khaled	B-Application
Mardam-Bey	I-Application
(	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
British	O
programmer	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mardam-Bey	O
states	O
that	O
he	O
decided	O
to	O
create	O
mIRC	B-Language
because	O
he	O
felt	O
the	O
first	O
IRC	B-Protocol
clients	O
for	O
Windows	O
lacked	O
some	O
basic	O
IRC	B-Protocol
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
author	O
states	O
that	O
its	O
subsequent	O
popularity	O
allowed	O
him	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
living	O
out	O
of	O
mIRC	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
is	O
shareware	B-License
and	O
requires	O
payment	O
for	O
registration	O
after	O
the	O
30-day	O
evaluation	O
period	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
5.91	O
is	O
the	O
final	O
version	O
to	O
support	O
16-bit	B-Device
Windows	O
;	O
6.35	O
is	O
the	O
last	O
to	O
support	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
,	O
NT	B-Device
4.0	I-Device
,	O
98	B-Device
,	O
and	O
ME	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
current	O
version	O
supports	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
and	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
has	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
distinguishing	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
scripting	O
language	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
make	O
minor	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
program	O
like	O
custom	O
commands	O
(	O
aliases	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
can	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
completely	O
alter	O
the	O
behavior	O
and	O
appearance	O
of	O
mIRC	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
claimed	O
feature	O
is	O
mIRC	B-Language
's	O
file	O
sharing	O
abilities	O
,	O
via	O
the	O
DCC	O
protocol	O
,	O
featuring	O
a	O
built-in	O
file	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
mIRC	B-Language
7.1	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
30	O
July	O
2010	O
,	O
Unicode	O
and	O
IPv6	B-Protocol
are	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
's	O
abilities	O
and	O
behaviors	O
can	O
be	O
altered	O
and	O
extended	O
using	O
the	O
embedded	O
mIRC	B-Language
scripting	I-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
mIRC	B-Language
includes	O
its	O
own	O
GUI	O
scripting	O
editor	O
,	O
with	O
help	O
that	O
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
extremely	O
detailed	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
issue	O
was	O
reported	O
in	O
August	O
2001	O
;	O
even	O
five	O
months	O
later	O
,	O
users	O
were	O
still	O
being	O
reported	O
as	O
having	O
fallen	O
prey	O
,	O
tricked	O
into	O
executing	O
commands	O
on	O
their	O
systems	O
which	O
result	O
in	O
"	O
handing	O
control	O
of	O
 [ their ] 	O
mIRC	B-Language
over	O
to	O
somebody	O
else	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
led	O
to	O
changes	O
being	O
made	O
in	O
mIRC	B-Language
version	O
6.17	O
:	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
author	O
,	O
$decode	O
is	O
now	O
disabled	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
and	O
various	O
other	O
features	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
considered	O
dangerous	O
are	O
now	O
lockable	O
.	O
</s>
