The chat room that was on here was Flash, so not as greedy as a good ole Java one. I'm not sure IRC would be a good solution, as it's not the easiest of things to use, and it means installing software which people might not want, as most wont already have a chat client. It's also a place you dont want to be without a good firewall!

Anyway, a bit has turned out to be longer than planned, as it turned out the chat room also had a security hole in it, which has just recently been fixed. It wont be too much longer now 8-)