I can search an emacs IRC buffer (it's just like searching a text file) or if I want to search everything I can just grep in my logs directory and get search results in emacs which I can then grep some more or easily copy paste to another buffer where I have a file open or a colleague who I'm chatting with.

For multiple windows, I can split my emacs in however many windows I want horizontally and vertically and switch around with whatever key bindings I want.