Like Rosemaryr I started years ago with the dos version of Fractint. I bought the books written by the Stone Group and delved deep into the fractal universe. For me and Im sure for many others all fractal programs are compared to Fractint. Now I primarily use Tierazon and UF but I still go back to fractals Ive saved out of Fractint and use them as textures in my 3d work. Im a fractal explorer from way back and the program I used the most to explore the fractal universe was Fractint.