Distributions (TeX Live / MiKTeX / MacTeX)

A distribution bundles TeX itself, the engines, and thousands of packages and fonts into one ready-to-use whole. In practice there are three choices: TeX Live, the cross-platform reference release; MiKTeX, which fetches missing packages on demand; and MacTeX, which wraps TeX Live for macOS. This page covers what each one is, how they differ, and how to choose.

What a distribution is

Running LaTeX takes a whole stack working together: an engine (pdfTeX, LuaTeX, …), the class files that \documentclass loads, thousands of packages like amsmath, the fonts used for typesetting, and helper programs such as latexmk and bibtex. A distribution installs all of that at once and wires it up for you. The word is borrowed from the Linux sense: it names not a single program but the whole ecosystem built around TeX.

Packages are gathered on CTAN (the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) by authors worldwide; a distribution picks a working, tested combination out of that vast archive and ships it, so you never assemble packages by hand. Of the three distributions, TeX Live and MacTeX share essentially the same contents (MacTeX is TeX Live plus Mac GUI apps), while MiKTeX is a separate implementation.

TeX Live — the cross-platform reference

TeX Live is the de facto standard distribution, maintained largely by the TeX Users Group (TUG). It runs on Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux, and assorted Unix systems, with the same engines and packages on every platform. Japanese support (the pTeX-family engines, jsclasses, luatexja, and so on) is included out of the box, so you can typeset Japanese with no extra setup.

You install it with the official **install-tl** installer (install-tl-windows.bat on Windows). The first thing you pick is an installation scheme — a named bundle that decides how much to install. The default, strongly recommended, is **scheme-full** (everything). If disk space is tight you can choose a smaller scheme such as scheme-medium, scheme-small, or scheme-basic. Schemes nest: a scheme groups *collections*, and a collection groups individual *packages*; adding or removing single packages afterwards is the job of tlmgr (below).

# install-tl を起動し、対話メニューで scheme を選ぶ
# Run install-tl and pick a scheme in the interactive menu
perl install-tl

# 非対話で最初からスキームを指定する例
# Or specify the scheme up front, non-interactively
perl install-tl --scheme scheme-full

When the network is flaky, or you are installing on many machines, you can install from the ISO image. Grab the roughly 6 GB texlive2026.iso from a CTAN mirror, mount it, and run the install-tl inside (or install-tl-windows.bat on Windows) — the whole distribution installs with no internet at all.

# Linux/Unix: ISO をマウントして中のインストーラを実行
# Linux/Unix: mount the ISO, then run the installer inside
sudo mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop,noauto texlive2026.iso /mnt
cd /mnt && sudo perl install-tl

The key mental model for TeX Live is its annual frozen release. A new version ships once a year (TeX Live 2026 was released on 1 March 2026), and when it does, the previous year is essentially frozen — the ISO contents are not updated after release either. Within the year, though, an installed system can be kept current with **tlmgr** (the TeX Live Manager).

# 基盤（tlmgr 自身など）だけ更新 / update the infrastructure only
tlmgr update --self

# 基盤とすべてのパッケージを更新 / update infrastructure and all packages
tlmgr update --self --all

# DVD/ISO から入れた場合は、まず更新元をオンラインの tlnet に向ける
# After an offline (DVD/ISO) install, point updates at the online tlnet repo
tlmgr option repository https://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet

The exact per-OS steps (including how to put TeX on your PATH) live on the “Desktop installation” page, and the deeper tlmgr how-to is on “Package & font management.” Here we stay at the level of how it all works.

MiKTeX — fetch what you need, when you need it

MiKTeX, created by Christian Schenk, is a Windows-born distribution (today it also runs on macOS and Linux). Its signature feature is installing missing packages on the fly: you start small, and when a document needs a package that is not yet present, MiKTeX asks your permission, fetches it from CTAN, and carries on compiling. The idea is “just enough TeX” — keep the footprint small rather than installing everything up front.

You install it by downloading and running the Basic MiKTeX Installer from the official site. The wizard asks whether to install for the current user only (recommended) or shared for all users, and lets you set the paper size and the package-installer behaviour (install missing packages automatically: yes / no / ask each time). Updates and package management afterwards happen in the GUI MiKTeX Console — the installer’s finish screen even suggests opening it to check for updates first.

MiKTeX Console handles checking for and installing updates, adding and removing packages, regenerating formats, and changing settings (such as whether to auto-install), and it has an administrator mode for shared installs. The on-the-fly convenience has a flip side: a first compile may pause while a package downloads, and it can backfire offline or where build reproducibility matters (CI, for instance). For those cases prefer TeX Live, or pre-install the packages you need.

MacTeX — TeX Live for macOS, plus Mac tools

MacTeX is the macOS install package distributed by TUG’s MacTeX working group. Inside is TeX Live itself (the same year’s release, the same packages), bundled with a set of GUI apps handy on macOS. It is a .pkg, signed and notarized by Apple, that installs with a double-click — the convenience for Mac users.

The bundled GUI apps land in /Applications/TeX/ and include the staples TeXShop (a dedicated TeX editor), TeX Live Utility (the updater below), LaTeXiT (turn an equation into an image you can drop elsewhere), and BibDesk (a bibliography manager). MacTeX-2026 is about 6.4 GB, requires macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later (up to Tahoe, macOS 26), and runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel.

If the full package is too large or your connection is thin, there is a small subset, BasicTeX (about 140 MB). It corresponds to TeX Live’s scheme-small — the minimum needed to typeset with the three main engines (pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, LuaLaTeX) — and you add anything missing later with tlmgr. BasicTeX and MacTeX can coexist, so trying BasicTeX first is a reasonable way in.

Because the contents are TeX Live, tlmgr works as-is; on the Mac there is also the GUI TeX Live Utility, which drives tlmgr underneath to check and apply updates visually (program updates can be picked up daily). In short, think of MacTeX as “TeX Live plus Mac ergonomics,” and you have it right.

Compare and choose

Side by side, the differences are clear. Sizes are approximate and vary a lot with the scheme you pick and, for MiKTeX, with what has been auto-installed.

• On Windows, if unsure: choose TeX Live for reference-grade reproducibility, or MiKTeX to save disk space and start quickly.
• On macOS: MacTeX is the norm. Worried about size or bandwidth? Start with BasicTeX and add packages via tlmgr.
• On Linux / Unix: TeX Live is the baseline (your distro’s packaged version may be old, so the upstream installer is the safer bet).
• For CI, Docker, or offline use where reproducibility matters: TeX Live is easier, since it does not rely on fetching packages on demand.
• All three handle Japanese. TeX Live/MacTeX work as-is; with a small scheme, add collection-langjapanese.