for windows (including xpvista and )python comes as self-installer msi program file--simply double-click on its file iconand answer yes or next at every prompt to perform default install the default install includes python' documentation set and support for tkinter (tkinter in python xguisshelve databasesand the idle development gui python and are normally installed in the directories :\python and :\python though this can be changed at install time for convenienceon windows and earlier python shows up after the install in the start button' all programs menu (see ahead for windows notespython' menu there has five entries that give quick access to common tasksstarting the idle user interfacereading module documentationstarting an interactive sessionreading python' standard manualsand uninstalling most of these options involve concepts explored in detail elsewhere in this text when installed on windowspython also automatically uses filename associations to register itself to be the program that opens python files when their icons are clicked ( program launch technique described in it is also possible to build python from its source code on windowsbut this is not commonly done so we'll skip the details here (see python orgthree additional install-related notes for windows usersfirstbe sure to see the next appendix for an introduction to the new windows launcher shipped with it changes some of the rules for installationfile associationsand command linesbut can be an asset if you have multiple python versions on your computer ( both and xper appendix bpython ' msi installer also has an option to set your path variable to include python' directory secondwindows users should see the sidebar in this appendix "using python on windows on page standard python installs and works the same on windows where it runs in desktop modebut you won' get the start button menu described earlierand the tablet interface on top is not yet directly supported finallysome windows vista users may run into install issues related to security features this seems to have been resolved over time (and vista is relatively rare these days)but if running the msi installer file directly doesn' work as expectedit' probably because msi files are not true executables and do not correctly inherit administrator permissions (they run per the registryto fixrun the installer from command line with appropriate permissionsselect command promptchoose "run as administrator,cd to the directory where your python msi file residesand run the msi installer with command line of the formmsiexec / pythonmsi linux for linuxif python or your desired flavor of it is not already presentyou can probably obtain it as one or more rpm fileswhich you unpack in the usual way (consult the rpm manpage for detailsdepending on which rpms you download appendix ainstallation and configuration