TeX and LaTeX for PCs

LaTeX is a powerful typesetting system, used for producing scientific and mathematical documents of high typographic quality. Unlike WYSIWYG tools such as FrameMaker and Word,
it uses plain text files that contain formatting commands. It’s big, open source, stable and used
by many technical publishing companies. It’s also relatively unknown in the technical writing
community.

Note: Nearly every serious student of math and Statistics will use LaTeX frequently.

Installing (La)TeX for Free

If you are using a Windows machine, you can download and install the following two programs (MiKTeX and TeXnicCenter, in that order) to get started with LaTeX. These programs are free

Note: These are not the only ways to install and use LaTeX on your computer. The TeX Users Group has a list of other LaTeX programs, including programs for Mac and Linux computers.

MikTeX

MiKTeX is the engine that does the typsetting work.

Note: The MiKTeX download is a large file, about 82.33 MB. If you have a slow internet connection, you may prefer to buy a MiKTeX CD rather than downloading it for free.

To download and install MiKTeX, do the following:

1. Click here to open the MiKTeX download site in a new window.
2. Download the basic MiKTeX system by clicking on the link that says Download "Basic MiKTeX" Installer. (This link is listed under the heading "Installing a basic system"). Clicking on that link will open a Download page. Find the 'Location' that's nearest you, then click on the 'Download' link corresponding to that location. A 'File Download' window will probably pop up after a few seconds - choose to Save the file. Pay attention to where you save the file. It doesn't matter where you save it, but you will have to find it later.
3. After the MiKTeX system download has finished, find the downloaded file, and double-click on it to launch the installer. Follow the directions in the installer. Some things to watch out for while installing:
   
   • When it askes you for the directory in which to install the files, we recommend leaving the default "C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.7", but if you choose to change it, make note of where you change it to: you will need this information when installing TeXnicCenter.
   • It will ask you your "preferred paper size". North American users will probably want "Letter"; most users elsewhere in the world will want "A4".
   • When it asks "Download packages on the fly", we recommend choosing the default "Ask me first".

At this point, MiKTeX should be installed on your computer.

TeXnicCenter

TeXnicCenter is a visual interface and editor for producing LaTeX documents. It is not a "What You See Is What You Get" editor, meaning your code doesn't immediately become nice math images as you type. However, it does include an easy-to-use interface for finding symbol commands, and its text editor is custom-designed to help you avoid syntax errors. To install TeXnicCenter:

1. Click here to open the TeXnicCenter download site in a new window.
2. Click on "Downloads" on the left side of the page.
3. Click on the link next to "TeXnicCenter Setup..." in the "End-User Downloads" section (next the top of the page). (It will probably have a green bar next to it.)
4. Find the 'Location' that's nearest you, then click on the 'Download' link corresponding to that location. A 'File Download' window will probably pop up after a few seconds - choose to Save the file. Pay attention to where you save the file. It doesn't matter where you save it, but you will have to find it later.
5. Once the download is finished, run the program that you just downloaded. We recommend accepting the default options, except that you may wish to add a desktop shortcut icon when you are asked.
6. If you elected to have a shortcut on the desktop, just click the icon on the desktop. Otherwise, click Start on the main Windows window, then 'All Programs', then 'TeXnicCenter', then choose the TeXnicCenter option.
7. When the program starts, a Tips window will open. Click Close. The program will then walk you through the configuration wizard:
   • When it askes you for the "full path of the directory where the executables" are located, type C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.7\miktex\bin (Note: if you changed the default location when installing MiKTeX, then you'll need to replace "C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.7" with the directory to which you installed MiKTeX.)
   • If it asks you to pick a PostScript viewer, you may just leave everything blank and just click "Next". Similarly if it asks you to pick a DVI viewer, just leave everything blank and click "Next". (It may or may not ask you these things, depending on how your computer is configured.)