IRC is on the way out. It was designed back when the net was a totally different place than it is now.

Many web-based chat server programs no longer even support IRC.

In regards to the Java chat ... Java needs to be enabled along with JavaScript (Active Scripting) in web browser.

And also connecting may take upto 5 minutes - especially for dialup folks; don't open any other windows, etc during loading.

Lastly, there is a possibility that some folks don't have Java on their computer - we are working on a help page to direct folks without Java to a source where they may download it.

Ron