<s>
Fractint	B-Application
(	O
originally	O
FRACT386	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
freeware	B-License
computer	B-Application
program	I-Application
to	O
render	O
and	O
display	O
many	O
kinds	O
of	O
fractals	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
originated	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
then	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
,	O
Fractint	B-Application
was	O
the	O
definitive	O
fractal	B-Application
generating	O
program	O
for	O
personal	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
is	O
a	O
portmanteau	O
of	O
fractal	B-Application
and	O
integer	O
,	O
since	O
the	O
first	O
versions	O
of	O
Fractint	B-Application
used	O
only	O
integer	O
arithmetic	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
fixed-point	O
arithmetic	O
)	O
,	O
for	O
faster	O
rendering	O
on	O
computers	O
without	O
math	O
coprocessors	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
then	O
,	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
arithmetic	I-Algorithm
and	O
arbitrary-precision	B-Algorithm
arithmetic	I-Algorithm
modes	O
have	O
been	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FractInt	B-Application
can	O
draw	O
most	O
kinds	O
of	O
fractals	B-Application
that	O
have	O
appeared	O
in	O
the	O
literature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
few	O
"	O
fractal	B-Application
types	O
"	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
strictly	O
speaking	O
fractals	B-Application
,	O
but	O
may	O
be	O
more	O
accurately	O
described	O
as	O
display	O
hacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fractint	B-Application
originally	O
appeared	O
in	O
1988	O
as	O
FRACT386	O
,	O
a	O
computer	B-Application
program	I-Application
for	O
rendering	O
fractals	B-Application
very	O
quickly	O
on	O
the	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80386	I-General_Concept
processor	O
using	O
integer	O
arithmetic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
80386	B-General_Concept
requires	O
the	O
Intel	O
80387	O
coprocessor	B-General_Concept
to	O
natively	O
support	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
math	I-Algorithm
,	O
which	O
was	O
rare	O
in	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatibles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
versions	O
of	O
FRACT386	O
were	O
written	O
by	O
Bert	O
Tyler	O
,	O
who	O
based	O
it	O
on	O
a	O
Mandelbrot	B-Algorithm
generator	O
for	O
a	O
TI-based	O
processor	O
that	O
used	O
integer	O
math	O
and	O
decided	O
to	O
try	O
programming	O
something	O
similar	O
for	O
his	O
386	B-General_Concept
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
1989	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
was	O
renamed	O
Fractint	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
1990	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
with	O
the	O
math	O
routines	O
rewritten	O
in	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
assembly	O
language	O
by	O
Howard	O
Chu	O
.	O
</s>
