Free Macromolecular Visualization Software for PC's

Year Software Coding
Language
Open-
Source?
Within
Browser?
1992 MAGE/Kinemages
by David C. Richardson
C? ? No
Pre-Internet!
1993 RasMol*
by Roger A. Sayle
C Yes No
Pre-Internet!
1997 MDL Chime* plugin
by Tim Maffett et al. © MDL
C++ No Yes
2002 KiNG (Kinemage Next Generation) applet
by Ian W. Davis and David C. Richardson
java Yes Yes
2004 Jmol* applet
by Miguel Howard, Bob Hanson, et al.
java Yes Yes

* These 3 share a common core "RasMol" command language for molecular views.

Do these satisfy all of our software needs? No!


  • Comprehensive list of free molecular visualization software: molvisindex.org
  • More on molecular visualization history.