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The first step in using \LaTeX\ is to install a program on your
computer.  There are lots of free versions, without even ads to
gum things up --- see the CTAN web site (Comprehensive \TeX\ Archive
Network).  I recommend MikTeX, which has been so well massaged that
all you need to do is to download a zipped file and click Install.
My Mac-using colleagues use TeXtures, which is a very nice program,
but it isn't freeware.

\LaTeX\ is a ``markup language'': The user creates a plain text file,
using any editing program, gives it a name ending in {\tt .tex} ---
say it is {\tt firstfile.tex} --- and then opens a command window,
moves to the the directory  where the file was saved, and issues the
command \newline
{\tt \$ latex firstfile} \newline
or\newline
{\tt \$ pdflatex firstfile} \newline
The first of these produces the file {\tt firstfile.dvi} --- {\tt .dvi}
is short of ``device independent'', and this file can be printed out if
you have the right commands in your system.  In a Unix or Linux system,
the command is\newline
{\tt \$ dvips firstfile}\newline
But I don't know of a similar command for Windows, so I use the second,
which produces the file {\tt firstfile.pdf}, which can be displayed
onscreen or printed using the free program Adobe Reader, or posted as
a web page.

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