Introduction > overview

Overview
Snak is a program that will let you participate in discussions in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels. A channel is like a virtual meeting room where people meet and talk.
Snak is distributed as shareware, which means that you may freely use and evaluate it for 30 days at no charge. If you decide to keep the program you need to pay the $20 registration fee to buy it.
After the 30-day evaluation period has ended the program will quit after 30 minutes of use if it is not paid for. Buying it will of course remove this limitation.
If you like the program, you are encouraged to buy it, as the show of support and appreciation will allow me to spend even more time working on it.

System requirements
Snak requires OS 9.0 or newer and CarbonLib 1.2.5 or newer. Snak is OS X compatible.

Installing Snak
Snak is distributed as a single file that contains the program and all its support files in compressed form. The file needs to be uncompressed using StuffIt Expander from Aladdin Systems.
In order to install Snak you need StuffIt Expander version 5 or newer. This program is free and is included in all recent versions of the operation system. If you have an older version you can freely download the latest version from http://www.aladdinsys.com.
To unpack the Snak file, just double click on it and StuffIt Expander should automatically launch and unpack the file.
This will create a normal folder that contains Snak and its support files in useable form.
Then, all you need to do is double click on the Snak icon to launch it.

What’s new in Snak 4.8.5
Version 4.8.5 fixes problems when resuming file sending, and provides support for the OS X services menu on selections in the main channel text. It also improves the ability to connect to servers and fixes a possible crash when closing windows.

What’s new in Snak 4.8.4
Version 4.8.4 fixes problems when resuming file receiving, and a problem that could damage connection profiles in some circumstances. It also corrects the way a private /me command works, and introduces extensive scriptability for DCC connections.

What’s new in Snak 4.8.3
This version fixes a possible crash when copying text from windows, and a possible extra character when changing channel topics.

What’s new in Snak 4.8.2
Version 4.8.2 adds a number of significant useability improvements and fixes.
Among other things, channels and channel buttons can now be dragged between windows to move them, to the desktop to make a new window and to the trash to close them.
The fields for topic and quit message now support styles and there is an option to not display the quit dialog.

It fixes problems copying text and resuming DCC transfers and fixes an occasional redraw issue with shared windows where the front channel text would blank out and require a redraw.

Version 4.8 features an improved window sharing option that stacks the docked channels in the window instead of tiling them. This new feature lets the active channel use the entire window area and the embedded channel bar shows you when the other channels receive text.
The Nick completion has been improved and now works on the last word in the line instead of just the first.
DCC transfer speed has been improved and Snak now supports long filenames on OS X. DCC resume transfer speed calculations have been improved, and there is now the option to automatically rename incoming files when duplicates are found.
This version contains many usability improvements, including the option of requiring the option key for stepping through the message history, changes to the way Snak uses saved preference files, automatic detection of lost connections, and an improved and simplified Setup Assistant.

Please look at the version history for the full list of changes and improvements.