The most simple beginner’s guide
My previous installation instructions for TeX (and related tools, such as the TeXShop editor) are no longer applicable. Please see the MacTeX website for full information.
Download the zipped sample document and extract it (double-click) ― it will create a folder called “texstart”. Open the sample document inside (“texstart.tex”) with TeXShop and push the “Typeset” button on the left of the toolbar. A window may appear that indicates TeXShop is using TeX to typeset the document. When TeX is finished typesetting, the PDF will appear. Read it (it’s short) and then look inside the .tex file to see how things were done. Welcome to LaTeX!
This document has been designed to be the bare minimum for getting started with TeX on Mac OS X. Next you may like to read the Getting started with TeX on Mac OS X document, which is considerably more explanatory than what you are currently reading. It covers the details of what TeX is and which programs to use with it.