compiling under windows

I'd like some help compiling xchat under windows. The official version isn't free for windows users so I have to use unoffical versions, most of them seem to be behind the official releases and some places have stopped making them. What I'd like to know is how I can compile it myself, I'm not going to sell it or distribute it, but it'd be nice if I knew how to do it so I can keep up with the official versions. It seems that MS Visual C++ is used, but that's about as much as I know. I can get VC++.net for free (and legally too), so that's not a problem. Beyond that, I haven't got a clue.

Does anyone know how I can do it?