At 09:18 AM 10/17/02 -0400, Tony Parker wrote: <snipped>

It's interesting that there is still a significant group of folk who still prefer using fractint to "create" fractal images,...

Your use of the word 'create' indicates that you see fractals as a means of artistic expression. UF, with its capability for multiple layers, and its transforms and gradients, etc., is the better program for doing 'artistic' things with the underlying fractals, and as such is the program of choice of those who see themselves as fractal artists. On the other hand, I consider myself a fractal explorer and a fractal purist. I do not 'create' fractals; I 'find' them. I try to show as clearly as possible the things that complex numbers do when iterated. I do not want to show how, for artistic purposes, I can distort what the numbers have done. As a DOS program, Fractint is fast, and once the key strokes become familiar, very simple to use. I use it because it best does what I want to do with fractals. Also, the upgrades are frequent and free. Finally, though I use Fractint, I have nothing against UF. Indeed, I sometimes use it to see what lies beyond the resolution limit of Fractint in some of my FOTD images. (Next FOTD in 13 hours!) Jim M.