Well ok, what’s wrong with xchat? I’m using it happily, and if it stopped being maintained I’d probably keep using it. What happens if you just keep using hexchat?

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HexChat

Description sounds like xchat, and xchat isn’t even mentioned in the comparison table. xchat on wikipedia redirects to hexchat.

Added: looks like hexchat originally intended to improve xchat’s functionality under Windows. Yeah as a non-Windows user I couldn’t see spending time on that myself. Windows from what I can tell is pretty dead in its own right. I guess it still has users though.