Setting up Python WinXP

[Zachary Ware]

Hi Michael,

On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 11:41 AM, Michael Smolen <8smolen at tds.net> wrote:
> Folks:
> I can't wait to start programming with Python.

Welcome to Python!

> However, I am having difficulty installing on my XP operating system.

This unsolicited advice is rather beside the point, but I would highly
recommend moving away from XP if you have any say in the matter.
Linux Mint (or other distro of your choice) is easy to install and
use, is free in whatever sense of the word you'd like to use, and will
be much more secure than XP, which is no longer supported by Microsoft
(this is why it's not supported by Python 3.5+, either).  An upgrade
to a newer version of Windows is also a good idea, but more costly.

> I downloaded Python-3.4.5ci

I'm not sure what you mean by 3.4.5ci; do you mean 3.4.5rc1?  3.4.5rc1
is pre-release software; 3.4.5 will be released in a week or so.
However, it won't include binary installers for Windows since Python
3.4 is now in security-fix-only mode.

> as that seems like the version that will run on my operating system. The latest version will not as per mention on the website. I downloaded the compacted version  (*.tar), converted it to a *.tgz and extracted the software into a folder Python-3.4.5ci. That subdirectory contains numerous files (11) and 13 subdirectories. The README file states that "On Windows, see PCbuild/readme.txt.". That link was not found.
>
> So, I am clueless on what I need to do to successfully install Python3.4 on my computer. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If you're stuck with XP, stick with Python 3.4.4, and download the
installer from here:
https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.4.4/python-3.4.4.msi

Hope this helps,
-- 
Zach