Winsock IRC -- Winsock IRC is a new freeware Internet Relay Chat client specifically designed to be intuitive and easy to use for novice IRC users. To this end, Winsock IRC succeeds. While not including all IRC commands, Winsock IRC does include enough to be competitive with other IRC clients currently available including channel list filtering, support for DCC Send/Chat, and private chat capabilities. Preference settings are easy to configure and are automatically saved between sessions. Winsock IRC sports an attractive interface, thanks in part to the Delphi environment it was created in. It also offers seamless integration with Netscape, allowing you to make the most of both applications and to automatically switch between each when chatting and surfing at the same time. Extensive online help documentation is noticeably lacking as are advanced features like hypertext support and voice/video support. Still, for a young program, Winsock IRC has a lot to offer for both novice and experienced users alike. Pros: Intuitive and easy to use, free IRC client Cons: Lacks on-line help and some of the competition's advanced features New: DCC Send/Chat support, seamless integration with Netscape, support for identd Version Reviewed: 3.1 Date of Review: 3/24/96 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud