i have a chat up at http://chat.pagespin.com/ which im testing seems ok yall could run something simular to it no? its software link http://www.x7chat.com/ and its easy to install
as for autorefresh opera does it and is a better browser to boot
if you want to specifiy a different reload time just right click on a page and choose the reload every xx option. also opera dont have add banners anymore so its just like mozilla and ie but better imho as it can remeber what pages you were on even if your pc crashes
idea for autorefresh in html--> if you wanted to add meta refresh to a site that used php or something else u could prolly load the site in an invisible html frame and have it set to refresh or autoredirect on an interval although this may some how effect ranks in certain search engines :P