TeX is a computer program for typesetting documents, created by D. E. Knuth. It takes a suitably prepared computer file and converts it to a form that may be printed on many kinds of printers, including dot-matrix printers, laser printers and high-resolution typesetting machines. A number of well-established publishers now use TeX in order to typeset books and mathematical journals. LaTeX, written by L. B. Lamport, is one of a number of `dialects' of TeX. It is particularly suited to the production of long articles and books, since it has facilities for the automatic numbering of chapters, sections, theorems, equations etc., and also has facilities for cross-referencing. It is probably one of the most suitable version of LaTeX for beginners to use.

In short, LaTeX is a document preparation system. CTAN is the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network is the authoritative collection of materials related to the TeX typesetting system.

Installing Programs for running Latex in Windows:

1. MiKTeX is an up-to-date TeX implementation for the Windows operating system. Get "Basic MiKTeX 2.7" Installer (Size: 78.44 MB) from here. MiKTeX has the ability to install missing packages automatically, i.e., this installer is suitable for computers connected to the Internet.
2. We have Several options on editor (any will do):

• TeXnicCenter is a freely available rich integrated development environment for producing LaTeX-documents on Windows. Download it from here.
• You could alternatively get WinEdt™ (shareware) version from here - which is more uder friendly, but not free.
• Tinn-R is on the other hand, free. Get it from here (might not be as frienly as WinEdt).

3. Adobe Reader is a program to view pdf extentions (33.5MB). Foxit Reader could be a good alternative to this.
4. GSview is an interpreter for the PostScript language. Download it from here.

Basic Tutorial:

I Started with this free pdf: The Not So Short Introduction to L T E X2 ε. To be honest, I just read the first chapter and then googled whenever I needed something on a need to know basis! But if you are willing to learn the art in a proper order - you could go through the wikibook!

[The Article is incomplete and partially filled with Plagiarized materials! Reader Discretion Advised.]