XChat Aqua has become XChat Azure

I have used IRC ever since I started using the Internet way back in 1996 on my Amiga. The client I used back then was called AmIRC which as you can see the from the image was the original for the design XChat is based on.

When I moved away from the Amiga in 1998, on to Linux on my PC I looked for a new IRC Client and picked XChat which I used for a number of years until I eventually switched to Apples in around 2004. Again I looked around for a IRC client and found XChat Aqua! So have been using it since. However if you are someone who also has also been using it for a number of years, you will be aware that any updates have always been very rare.

However from browsing through the Mac App Store the other day I noticed that a new version is available directly through the store, but it has been renamed! It is now called XChat Azure due to Apple not allowing any Apps to apparently use the words ‘Mac’, ‘OS X’, or ‘Aqua’. The direct link to XChat Azure in the Mac App Store is here. In order for it to comply with the Mac App Store guidelines the location it stores any configuration settings has changed (for the better in my opinion) from being stored in a folder called .xchat2 in the user directory to being in the Library/Application Support folders the same as almost every other Mac Application does. So if you are upgrading from XChat Aqua you would need to run one of a couple of different commands depending on what you want to do. I have included the instructions from the XChat Azure website below. However you can view the instructions directly on their site by clicking here.

Unlike XChat GTK and X-Chat Aqua, XChat Azure do not share the traditional configuration direcotry ~/.xchat2 because of Mac App Store guideline.

So if you want to keep your configuration, you should move it, copy it, or make hard link.

1. Open Terminal.app to do this job. You can find it on Spotlight
2. Did you run XChat Azure already? Remove its configuration to do other job
   • rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/XChat\ Azure
3. Move, if you will not use XChat GTK or X-Chat Aqua again
   • mv ~/.xchat2 ~/Library/Application\ Support/XChat\ Azure
4. Copy, if you will use different configuration on Aqua and Azure, or you want to test Azure and get back to original X-Chat Aqua.
   • cp -R ~/.xchat2 ~/Library/Application\ Support/XChat\ Azure
5. Hard-/Soft-Link, if you want to share configurations
   • ln ~/.xchat2 ~/Library/Application\ Support/XChat\ Azure
   • or
   • ln -s ~/.xchat2 ~/Library/Application\ Support/XChat\ Azure

Once done you can carry on using the same settings you’ve always had in the shiney new XChat Azure. Which hopefully will be more actively developed than the old XChat Aqua.