So, as I understand from replies, Lyx is a good quality program that I can depend on. To be honest, Kile and emacs options are very tempting. I am a little confused but also intimidated from the screenshots of Kile. So I guess it might be a good idea for me to start with lyx to get things done and gain experience with working in this new environment for a while. The objective will be to switch to working in the text mode eventually. Thanks very much everybody for the useful feedback. -- Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. - Mark Twain --