I assume this board is visited by quite some people who often write LateX documents. I should start using it too, but I'm a bit lost.

What are the best tools to use (windows XP computer), how to install them, an (in very rough terms) how to use them? Internet was very good at giving piles of incomplete info, but I didn't find a complete info that worked for me.

I don't need to know all details on the commands, I'll find that myself. Just things like: "install these tools in this order, and then you write your document here, compile it like this and view it there."

Thanks in advance guys .

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Ni Nicolas. I wish I could be of more help, but I've never used LaTeX on Windows. I can give you a couple general tips though.

Managing a LaTex distribution can be confusing at first because of all the packages that need to work together. A quick google suggests that MikTeX is the norm for Windows users. I'm not sure what packages miktex comes with, as those are usually specific to your task. A couple common ones are graphicx and amsmath. You may consider installing bibtex as well, if you want to manage a bibliography database.

I use emacs with auctex to edit my files. If you haven't used emacs before, it has a pretty steep learning curve, but I feel it's well worth it. I'm not sure how miktex compiles .tex files in windows, but I'm sure it's in the instructions. The latex compiler creates a .dvi file from the .tex, and then you may convert that .dvi into postscript or pdf with another tool (probably included with miktex, by the looks of it).

Sorry I can't give you instructions more specific to windows, but that should be a start.

I've done a full install of miktex, ghostscript and ghostview, and emacs. However, I can't get started in emacs. I see little more than a textblock screen, I don't know how to customize it for latex use, how to link it to miktex etc.

I see loads of different guides to install everything, but none are the same. Apparently you need to set up environment variables and everything...I could use a guide that is clear, complete, actually works and ends with a program that allows for creating Latex files better than notepad .

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Having said that, I got it to work by combining 3 "how to install" guides, some insight and luck . Now I've got Winshell to work. I can compile to LaTeX, then to PDF, and then view a nice LaTeX PDF. What's more, I know how to open tex files in that editor, and can see where's what.

Thanks for your time people. Mods, you may leave this thread open, as I will use it when I have questions on how to use LaTeX.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.