Software in this category are no longer available (at least I couldn’t find them) or don’t run on Windows 10 and later. If you have a computer running an older Windows flavor (pre-Windows 7 preferably), you may be able to use them… granted that you find them first.
Dynamical Systems ~ v1b
OS: MS-DOS/Win3.x/9x/Me
author: Dan Waggoner
url: http://archives.math.utk.edu/software/msdos/ (broken)
A simple fractal generator that can plot Mandelbrot, Julia and Newton fractals. The size of the images will be that of your screen resolution. Will run even in an aged 386 with a math coprocessor. It saves pictures in DIB format.
Last revision: 18 January 1993.
FractSurf ~ v2.0.1
OS: Win98/Me/XP
author: Julian Bischof
url: http://www.fractsurf.de (broken)
FractSurf can generate seven different types of fractal images, including Mandelbrot, Julia, Dragon and Quaternion. It also has the ability to work with layers, and save parameters as bookmarks. It also comes with a screensaver mode, so it can keep generating new images while your computer is idle.
Last revision: 27 November 2001.
Fractal Magic ~ v1.01
OS: Win
author: James Crisp
url: https:/jamescrisp.org
Fractal Magic will draw Mandelbrot and Julia set fractals. It cannot save images (instead, it will save parameter files), but can print directly or copy the pictures to the clipboard for pasting into other applications. Considerably fast, but simple. I wasn’t able to find this app on the author’s website (url given above).
Last revision: 11 July 1998.
Fractal Trees X ~ v2 beta
OS: MacOS X
author: Simon Woodside
url: http://simonwoodside.com
This is a very simple program to draw fractal tree silhouettes. You can change the colors (including the background) as well as some parameters (by way of sliders). Images can be saved as TIFF files. No longer available for download. I wasn’t able to find this app on the author’s website (url given above).
Last revision: 3 December 2008.
Fractals! ~ v3.7
OS: Win9x
author: Wurm-Software
url: n/a
Fractals! is a German fractal generator that can plot several types of fractals. It comes with some very interesting options to control the results, including the ability to render 3D scenes. Although the program instructions and commands are in German, fractal connoisseurs can work with it quite easily. No longer available for download.
Last revision: (?) 2000.
FractInt ~ v20.4
OS: DOS/Windows/Linux/Mac/BeOS
author: The Stone Soup Group
url: https://www.fractint.net
FractInt, the granddaddy of all fractal generators (it goes back to 1988), keep updating with age, and it seems it still have a loyal (cult) following. It can draw many fractal types in both 2D and 3D of up to 10^1600 zooming power. Version 20 now supports images larger than 2048×2048, adds evolver and enhanced sound. Available for different platforms. The Linux/UNIX flavor is called Xfractint, while the Windows version is WinFract (this last one doesn’t run on Win 10 or later).
Last revision: 22 August 2015.
JM’s Mandelbrot Explorer ~ v1.21
OS: Win9x/Me
author: James Minchin
url: n/a
This Mandelbrot explorer is small and easy to use. Includes several predefined formulas, and the user can modify and create his or her own. Regretfully, you cannot adjust the number of iterations, so deep zooming will always result in big black/washout regions (this has been sacrificed in favor of fast computation). Images can be saved as BMP files or immediately set as wallpaper. It also saves the fractal’s location for further explorations. Includes documentation. The author stopped working on this program a long time ago, so it’s no longer available. He has been developing at least a fractal generator for Android.
Last revision: 26 May 1999 (officially dormant)
Julia ~ v4.42
OS: Win
author: J.M.B. v.d. Ven
url: n/a
Julia is the latest incarnation of an earlier program by M. Hendrix that goes back to 1994. This current version is an extension that can draw Julia and Mandelbrot Set fractals. It can generate random images as well. Some parameters can be modified. It’s more a fractal explorer than a tool to create stylish fractal images. No longer available.
Last revision: 9 May 2014.
L-System ~ v4.0.1
OS: Win9x/Me/NT
author: Timothy C. Perz
url: http://www.oocities.org (broken)
This is an incredible and very easy to use application (but you better know what your doing anyway) to draw colorful and eye-catching Lindenmayer Systems (L-Systems) in 3D. It is also full of options to control all aspects of your creations, and includes a random generator. Images can be saved to BMP or JPG format, and 3D models can be imported into any 3D program that recognizes the *.DXF file format (such as Bryce and Ray Dream). A new version of this software is under way (L-System 5). Note: It seems the author stopped working on this project. The url above is an archive from his old Geocities site, and though the programs can be found and downloaded from there, the beta version of L-Sys5 I just tried has too many bugs (the author warned about that anyway) to be considered stable. Note 2: No longer available as of 2025.
Last revision: May 1999.
LS-SchetchBook ~ v0.1b ~ OS: Win9x/Me/NT
author: Roberto S. Ferrero
url: n/a
This tool is intended to explore L-Systems. You can start by using the included models, or if you have some experience or know the mathematics involved in these kind of complex systems, you can start from ground-zero. It comes with a syntax checker to verify your input, then produce the computations and visualize the output as an image or sequence, both of which can be save as BMP files. The Help file is in Spanish, but English (and Spanish) documentation is available online.
Update: I wasn’t able to find it anywhere, so I presume it’s no longer available.
Last revision: 18 September 2000.
Makin Magic Fractals ~ v2.4
OS: DOS
author: David Makin
url: http://www.fractalgallery.co.uk
MMFrac can produce 2D and 3D fractal images of various types. Users of FractInt will find his generator easy to use, but for non-DOS users it could result a little bid difficult. Nevertheless, its 3D renderings are quite beautiful, and make this application worth a try. Software no longer available.
Last revision: 2001.
Mandelbrot ~ v1.0
OS: Win
author: Arne “Timwi” Heizmann
url: http://www.lionking.org/~timwi/ (broken)
More than a fractal generator like all other programs listed in here, Timwi’s Mandelbrot is more like an fractal exploration tool, since it’s extremely simple: it only draws Mandelbrot and Julia sets fractals. Pictures cannot be saved, except by screen capturing, but images are so simple, it’s not even worth trying that if you have any other application. Anyway, it’s not intended for image creation as most other generators. No longer available.
Last revision: 15 February 2001.
Mandelbrot Program ~ v1.0
OS: DOS
author: P.A.Grosse
url: http://grosse.is-a-geek.com
Do not mix up this Mandelbrot Program with the previous one. This one is a small DOS generator that runs smoothly in Win9x and is pretty intuitive to use. You can use it to explore several types of fractals. Postcardware.
Last revision: 7 November 1997.
Mandelbrot Root Explorer ~ v1.04
OS: Win9x/NT
author: Junichi Sato
url: n/a
To quote its author, this program solves “Mandelbrot equation. Roots can be calculated, so many images can be made automatically. And classifications of Mandelbrot images are possible”. Users can modified most of the image’s parameters, and create zoom movies. Images can be saved as BMP or JPG files. It’s one of my favorite tools for Mandelbrot set exploration at the moment. Source code available. No longer available.
Last revision: 5 March 2000.
Mind-Boggling Fractals ~ v2.5
OS: Win9x/Me/NT
author: Paul W. Carlson
url: n/a
Mind-Boggling Fractals was a very interesting fractal generator that could create very beautiful images. It was quite ease-to-use, suitable for both newbies and experts alike. Its most interesting features were its 35 built-in equations and its 20 rendering methods that gave images a 3D-like appearance (it also included an equation editor). After a period of phantom-ness (the program wasn’t available), it has resurfaced as freeware (used to be shareware). There’s also a a Lite version, which is a limited edition that only comes with 6 equations and 9 rendering methods; it’s also available from the same web page. Unfortunately, setup didn’t proceeded on Windows 10, so apparently it doesn’t run on newer computers anymore. The screenshot above is from the Lite version. The DeviantArt group may probably be inactive as well (last journal entry is from 2006).
Last revision: 18 November 2001.