I'm very new to LaTeX, so apologies for my ignorance. I am beginning to write my thesis, and would like to use LaTeX for this. A friend set up MiKTex and Texmaker on my office computer (running Windows 7) for me. However, I would also like to be able to write at home, where I have a Mac currently running OS X Mavericks (probably upgrading to Yosemite in the near future).

Purchase zoo tycoon 2 for mac. There are three easy steps for installing LaTeX on Windows: Install GhostView - for creating and viewing postscript (.ps) files. Microsoft word for mac. Install MikTex - this is the standard LaTeX package for Windows. Install a Text Editor - to type up your own LaTeX files or edit other people's files.

After some googling, I've found out that I could install the Mac version of Texmaker at home, but MiKTeX is Windows specific. I'm not sure about the 'compatibility' of different distributions of LaTeX, and wonder how I can set up a system that easily allows me to work on the same files at home and at work.

I have the following questions: If I kept using MiKTeX and Texmaker on my Windows machine, would I be able to open and edit these files at home using say MacTeX and Texmaker? (Are the packages, formatting code etc.

I know I could just edit the text files at home using a text editor and only do the real LaTeX stuff at work, but I'd prefer to be able to work in the full enviornment.) Would I be better changing the distribution installed on my Windows machine to Tex Live, and installing Tex Live on my Mac? If I do this, would I be better installing Tex Live or MacTeX? Is the Windows version of Tex Live fully compatible with MacTeX? I've read that MacTeX has some Mac-specific features, and wonder if this would cause problems transferring files back and forth. The other option for me is installing MiKTeX and Texmaker on Parallels on my Mac.

I'm not especially keen to do this as I prefer working in OS X (and it's faster), and I feel semi-confident in using MiKTeX, and have no one to teach me Tex Live. However, would this be the easiest option in terms of compatibility, or does MiKTeX come more highly recommended than Tex Live?

I really don't know very much about this, so if I've missed any obvious other options, or there's something lacking in my understanding in the questions I've asked, please enlighten me! If you are new to TeX, I think I would recommend installing TeX Live for Windows and MacTeX for OS X. This is not because of compatibility issues - as others have said, you should have few or none of those. But the two distributions work differently and I think TeX is confusing enough to learn without having to worry about those differences.

On the other hand, if you only really have to manage the one at home because somebody else will manage MiKTeX on your office machine, then this won't be a relevant consideration. – Nov 25 '14 at 0:58.