diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 3a72974ca192..4f3f29ced942 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ the details (and potential complications) on this page, the easiest
 thing for you to do is use one of the pre-packaged python
 distributions that already provide matplotlib built-in.  The Continuum.io
 Python distribution `(Anaconda)
-<https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/>`_ and the Enthought 
-distribution `(Canopy) <https://www.enthought.com/products/canopy/>`_  
-are both excellent choices that "just work" out of the box for any 
+<https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/>`_ and the Enthought
+distribution `(Canopy) <https://www.enthought.com/products/canopy/>`_
+are both excellent choices that "just work" out of the box for any
 platform.  Both of these packages include matplotlib and
 *lots* of other useful tools.
 Another excellent alternative for Windows users is `Python (x, y)
@@ -87,31 +87,77 @@ python console, there are some issues relating to user interface
 toolkits and interactive settings that are discussed in
 :ref:`mpl-shell`.
 
+
 Installing on Windows
 ---------------------
 
-If you don't already have python installed, you may want to consider
-using the Enthought edition of python, which has scipy, numpy, and
-wxpython, plus many other useful packages, preinstalled - `Enthought
-Python <http://www.enthought.com/python>`_.  With the Enthought
-edition of python + matplotlib installer, the following backends
-should work out of the box: agg, wx, wxagg, tkagg, ps, pdf and svg.
-
-For standard python installations, you will also need to install numpy
-in addition to the matplotlib installer.  On some systems you will
-also need to download msvcp71.dll library, which you can download from
-http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?msvcp71 or other
-sites.  You will need to unzip the archive and drag the dll into
-:file:`c:\windows\system32`.
-
-All of the GUI backends run on Windows, but TkAgg is probably the
-best for interactive use from the standard python shell or ipython.
-The Windows installer (:file:`*.exe`) on the download page contains all the
-code you need to get up and running.  However, there are many
-examples that are not included in the Windows installer.  If you
-want to try the many demos that come in the matplotlib source
+If you don't already have Python installed, we recommend using
+one of the `scipy-stack compatible Python distributions
+<http://www.scipy.org/install.html>`_ such as Python(x,y),
+Enthought Canopy, or Continuum Anaconda, which have matplotlib and
+many of its dependencies, plus other useful packages, preinstalled.
+
+For `standard Python <http://www.python.org/download/>`_ installations
+you will also need to install compatible versions of
+`setuptools <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools/>`_,
+`numpy <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/numpy/>`_,
+`python-dateutil <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-dateutil/>`_,
+`pytz <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pytz>`_,
+`pyparsing <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyparsing/>`_ and
+`six <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/six>`_
+in addition to
+`matplotlib <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/matplotlib>`_.
+
+In case Python is not installed for all users (not the default), the
+Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 (
+`64 bit <http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=15336>`_
+or
+`32 bit <http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=29>`_
+for Python 2.6 to 3.2) or Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 (
+`64 bit <http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632>`_
+or
+`32 bit <http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5555>`_
+for Python 3.3 and 3.4) redistributable packages need to be installed.
+
+Matplotlib depends on `Pillow <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Pillow>`_
+for reading and saving JPEG, BMP, and TIFF image files.
+Matplotlib requires `MiKTeX <http://miktex.org/>`_ and
+`GhostScript <http://www.ghostscript.com/download/>`_ for rendering text
+with LaTeX.
+`FFmpeg <https://www.ffmpeg.org/>`_, `avconv <https://libav.org/>`_,
+`mencoder <http://www.mplayerhq.hu>`_, or
+`ImageMagick <http://www.imagemagick.org/>`_ are required for the
+animation module.
+
+The following backends should work out of the box: agg, tkagg, ps,
+pdf and svg.
+For other backends you may need to install
+`pycairo <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pycairo>`_,
+`PyQt4 <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyQt4>`_,
+`PyQt5 <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyQt5>`_,
+`PySide <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PySide>`_,
+`wxPython <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wxPython>`_,
+`PyGTK <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyGTK>`_,
+`Tornado <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/tornado>`_,
+or GhostScript.
+
+TkAgg is probably the best backend for interactive use from the
+standard Python shell or IPython. It is enabled as the default backend
+for the official binaries.  GTK3 is not supported on Windows.
+
+The Windows installers (:file:`*.exe`) and wheels (:file:`*.whl`) on
+the download page do not contain test data or example code.
+If you want to try the many demos that come in the matplotlib source
 distribution, download the zip file and look in the :file:`examples`
 subdirectory.
+To run the test suite, copy the lib\matplotlib\tests and
+lib\mpl_toolkits\tests directories from the source distribution to
+sys.prefix\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib and
+sys.prefix\Lib\site-packages\mpl_toolkits respectively, and install
+`nose <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/nose>`_,
+`mock <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/mock>`_,
+Pillow, MiKTeX, GhostScript, ffmpeg, avconv, mencoder, ImageMagick, and
+`Inkscape <http://inkscape.org/>`_.
 
 .. _install_from_source: