Your next complex writing project just got easier thanks to LyX, a free LaTeX/TeX editor. Unlike its ancestors, it’s not just for mathematical writing.  In fact, it’s more of a page layout app like Apple’s Pages.  I am writing this piece in it right now.

LyX is 100% free GPL software.

LyX in Mac OS X looks good and does not require X11. The graphical interface is straightforward, so I skipped most documentation and have done OK learning by doing. For example, I learned I can add cover art and illustrations in a term paper or book through the Graphics item in the Insert menu. There’s a LyX plugin for Spotlight compatability too.

As in Pages, you don’t have to manually configure text size and other variables. Writing a business letter or term paper is as simple as editing a pre-built template. Voilà!

You can use a simple template to write a book, complete with table of contents and an index list. For the index, you highlight a few or a lot of the most important terms and the software will automatically index them. This is great for helping readers find the keyword they were looking for in your text; and I didn’t expect to generate such a professional-looking report so easily.

Beware if you’re downloading LyX for a Windows box. The download has support files that take up a few hundred megabytes. I think Ubuntu carries this program in its online software library and it should be as simple as the Mac port.  Enjoy! 

http://wiki.lyx.org/pmwiki.php/LyX/Mac

//edit: 11-2-2005, Screenshot added to supplement the one on the link above Picture_1.png