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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 Texmaker, which has a built-in text editor 
and .pdf viewer.  My Mac-using colleagues use TeXtures, which is a 
very nice program, but it isn't freeware.  (Texmaker has versions 
for other platforms,)

\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 in a DOS window issues the 
command \newline
{\tt \$ latex firstfile} \newline
or\newline
{\tt \$ pdflatex firstfile} \newline
(In Texmaker you issue one of these commands by clicking on an arrow 
at the top of the window.)
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 (Texmaker's .pdf reader is accessed by another arrow
at the top of the window) or printed using the free 
program Adobe Reader, or posted as a web page.

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