How to install and use LaTeX on Windows
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Microsoft Word is the office suite par excellence. Surely all of you who are here have used it more than once, and I would also dare to say that some have reached their limits. And it is that, although it has improved a lot in the latest versions, Word still does not have enough power to create very long, scientific (especially mathematical) documents, with many references... There is a much more powerful alternative: LaTeX, and in Xataka Windows we are going to see how to install and use it on your Windows system.
Why use LaTeX? The main advantage is to completely forget about the format and design of the document: we only write and the system takes care of generating a well-designed document and with a professional appearanceThere is also, of course, the power it offers: from packages to make drawings to others to create scores. In addition, there are thousands of resources on the Internet that you can take advantage of, such as templates to create your CV. And the most important thing: if you don't like something, you can change it, even the editor: .tex files are plain text, so there is no problem in using any alternative you find.
Of course, LaTeX also has its (many) difficulties You will find errors that prevent the document from being generated, moments in which the The compiler doesn't do what you want it to do and, on top of that, it doesn't explain why, and it will take you longer to write documents as long as you haven't gotten the hang of it (once you master it, you write much faster). Many people give up when they see that to make something bold you have to type \textbf{bold text}. That's why it's only worth learning LaTeX if you're going to make documents that require more than what Word can offer.
How to install LaTeX: MikTeX
If you haven't freaked out yet, let's install LaTeX. This step is very easy: just download and install MikTeX, the LaTeX distribution that includes LaTeX compilers and packages. It also includes a package manager for easy downloading from the Internet.
The installation does not have any complications: click next accepting the license terms when prompted (it is free software, there is nothing weird), and when I'm done it'll be all done. If you prefer not to install anything on your system, MikTeX also has a portable version, which you can also unzip to USB to always carry with you.
LaTeX editors: TeXStudio or LyX
Once we have everything installed, we need the editor Here there are many options: some specialized ones like TexMaker, TeXnicCenter, TeXWorks; or more generic editors like Sublime Text, Vim or Emacs (good luck if you plan to use one of the last two). However, we are going to highlight only two: LyX and TeXStudio.
The first one is designed to make things easier. LyX is defined as a What You See Is What You Mean (WYSIWYM) editor, we write as if we were in Word , without having to enter any additional commands. Except for some details, such as references, we see what we would see in the final document: formulas, headings, images…"
The only problem with LyX is that it is quite limited. It's a good way to create simple, well-formatted documents without fussing with LaTeX's internal commands, but if you're looking for something more LyX is cumbersome and falls short.So, if you're still with us, let's look at a more powerful editor: TeXStudio
This editor is very good whether you are starting out or if you already have more experience with LaTeX On the one hand it has quick access to all the LaTeX functions (symbols, tables, graphics...) and wizards to make things easier. On the other hand, it has bibliography management, customizable autocompletion, color schemes, a PDF preview panel and automatic management of documents separated into several files.
And now that?
Now we have everything installed on our computer, so we just need to get to write To start learning LaTeX I would recommend the Wikibooks page (in English) or, if you prefer in Spanish, an introduction to the system created by UPM professors. The (Not So) Short Introduction to LaTeX2e (link in Spanish) is also a good resource, although perhaps too long if you want to start writing quickly.
And once you have mastered all the basics, if you want to go a bit further I would recommend LaTeX2e for class and package writers to learn how to develop your own commands and packages; the TeX.SX forum, from the Stack Exchange network, to solve your doubts; and the documentation for each package (accessible by typing texdoc packagename from the command line or the Run menu >."
We hope this article helps you to awaken your curiosity for a different editing system Of course, it's not for everyone and in many cases Word is enough and more than enough for documents without many complications, but it never hurts to know another way of doing things. As always, if you have doubts or suggestions we can discuss them in the comments.
