I prefer to install the 64-bit Python 2.7.4, then use the pre-built packages for Win64 at http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/ http://www.lfd.uci.edu/

I prefer to install the 64-bit Python 2.7.4, then use the pre-built packages for Win64 at http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/ http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/ . I primarily use Python for scientific calculations, plus a little bit of web development, and I have chosen the following packages: Base, NumPy, SciPy, MySQL-Python, Mathplotlib. (NOTE: "Base" is a bundled collection of Python packages you will find at the above site; it is not a package that you will find at the official PyPI repository.) I also installed pip, but since I am behind a corporate firewall and have another program named "pip" (part of Strawberry Perl), it was a bit tricky.