Environment > Getting Started > Starting IDL

# Starting IDL

The easiest way to start IDL is by launching the IDL Workbench, which is an Eclipse-based graphical user interface.

You can also run IDL in command-line mode, which uses a text-only interface and sends output to your terminal screen or shell window.

IDL is available in both 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows and a 64-bit version for Macintosh, Solaris, and Linux. You can execute the 64-bit version only if your system supports 64-bit operations, but you can run the 32-bit Windows version on a 64-bit Windows system. See Command-line Options for IDL Startup for details.

The following table lists the various ways to launch IDL:

|  | Mode
--- | --- | ---
Operating System | 32-/64-bit Executable | Workbench | Command-line
Windows | 32-bit | On 32-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > IDL On 64-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL (32-bit) | On 32-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL Command Line On 64-bit platforms: Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL Command Line (32-bit)
| 64-bit | Start > IDL x.x > IDL | Start > IDL x.x > Tools > IDL Command Line
Macintosh | 64-bit | Double-click on the `idl` icon in your IDL installation folder or Enter `idlde` at the X11 Terminal window shell prompt | Click on the `idl` icon in your IDL installation folder or Enter `idl` at the X11 Terminal window shell prompt
Solaris and Linux | 64-bit | Enter `idlde` at the shell prompt | Enter `idl` at the shell prompt
|  | Note: To launch IDL from the shell prompt, you must first explicitly open a terminal window and set up each IDL user's environment.

## Quitting IDL

To quit IDL, type `EXIT` at the IDL command prompt.