and the idle environment because linux is unix-like systemthe next paragraph applies as well unix for unix systemspython is usually compiled from its full source code distribution this usually only requires you to unpack the file and run simple config and make commandspython configures its own build procedure automaticallyaccording to the system on which it is being compiled howeverbe sure to see the package' readme file for more details on this process because python is open sourceits source code may be used and distributed free of charge on other platforms the installation details can differ widelybut they generally follow the platform' normal conventions for exampleinstalling the "pippyport of python for palmos required hotsync operation with your pdaand python for the sharp zaurus linux-based pda was one or more ipk fileswhich you simply ran to install (these likely still workthough finding the devices today may be logistical challenge!more recentlypython can be installed and used on android and ios platforms toobut installation and usage techniques are too platform-specific to cover here for additional install procedures and the latest on available portstry both python' website and web search using python on windows windows was released as this edition was being written as mentioned in the prefacethis book was developed on both windows and but mostly under windows because the choice is irrelevant to almost everything in this book--both python and presently work only in desktop mode on windows but install and run there the same as in windows vistaxpand others once you navigate past the tabletlike layer at the topusage is almost entirely as before the only notable exception to this is windows ' lack of start button menu in desktop mode you don' get the nice menu of python options automaticallythough you can simulate it manually although this story is prone to change (and you should take this sidebar as an early report)here are few windows usage notes at this writingthe standard python windows msi installer program installs python on windows correctlyand exactly as in the pastyou get the same filename associations for icon clicksaccess from command linesand so on the installer also creates start screen button on windows but python itself runs in windows ' desktop modewhich is essentially the same as windows without start button menu for examplethe windows start screen button created by the python install simply switches control to desktop mode to open python interactive shell the upside to this is that all existing python software works on windows ' desktop just as before one downside is that you'll need to create shortcuts for the user-friendly start button menu items created automatically on former windows versions this ininstalling the python interpreter