To install LaTeX, you need a LaTeX distribution like TeX Live (Linux), MacTeX (Mac OS X), or MiKTeX (Windows) which contains the typesetting system and packages. You also need a LaTeX editor like TeXnicCenter, WinEdt, or other text editors that provide LaTeX functionality such as code highlighting, autocompletion, and automatic document generation to create LaTeX input files. The LaTeX distribution then transforms the input files into output files.