Mac OS XThere are many different flavour of LaTeX packages, but here we mention one provides easy installation and useful apps. MacTeX contains the basic LaTeX and other useful Apps such as TeXShop, BibDesk, LaTeXit. You just download it and install it. You can run latex from TeXShop or at the command-line. More information on MacTeX can be found here. Debian/UbuntuThere are some packages that you might want to install:
WindowsInstall MiKTeX package for the backend. e.g. The LaTeX engine. Then install one of the following fronted. e.g. The User Interface: |