Recommendation: tex editor, word and windows user.

I have two strong recommendations:

• TeXworks: if you like it quick and easy, it's usually already installed by MiKTeX and TeX Live, so just try.

• TeXnicCenter: if you would like to work with a complex LaTeX editor with project management and a lot of features, toolbars and output options.

Further LaTeX editors for Windows are listed here: Distributions, Editors and Viewer for Windows.

If you are using Microsoft Word and are happy with the results, except that you need the PDF output, you might try a PDF printer. You can try CutePDF Writer, or just go for Adobe Acrobat. But I have to say that even the basic installation of MiKTeX should suffice and soon you will be satisfied with the results.

As with most things in life, there is a learning curve for LaTeX, so don't be discouraged if it takes a while before you get used to it. Remember that there's a huge community of people willing to help you in your learning process. And the results you get are totally worth the time it will take to learn it.

I'd definitely recommend Notepad++. It is the most universal text editor on Windows, and can be customized as easily for typesetting as it can be for programming.

You can follow the this link (along with the recommendations in the comments) for a very useful experience.

Using Notepad++ with MiKTeX on Windows