The first question to ask yourself before installing Inkscape is whether you want a stable version or a development build. Stable versions have been officially released and have version numbers associated with them. Calling a version (for example, version 0.46.1) stable does not mean it’s perfect and never crashes; it just means this version has received a decent amount of testing, is more completely documented, and is what most people use. In fact, apart from its stability, the biggest advantage of running a stable version is that this is what other users run, so fellow Inkscape artists are more likely to be able to help you.
Overall, I recommend that you start with a stable version, but consider upgrading to a development build if you find that you like Inkscape and want to support its development, or if you need the new features added since the release (visit the next version’s Release Notes on http://wiki.inkscape.org to see what’s being worked on).
Using a development build has its own distinct advantages. First of all, such builds have all the latest and best features, which are often quite significant compared to the latest stable version (especially if it’s been several months since the stable release). These new features often include fixes for the important bugs of the stable version. Also, by running the development version, you help the development community to discover and iron out new bugs. Naturally, active developers are more interested in the development version, so you’re more likely to receive prompt help directly from the developers.
But what about stability? Granted, development builds are, on average, buggier and crash more often. However, if you run into a bug that’s really driving you crazy—and if that bug is not fixed quickly enough—you can always go back to the latest stable version. (Remember to save often, no matter which version you use!)
Inkscape’s stable releases are still numbered below 1.0, and each release increments the version number by just 0.01 (for example, 0.40 was followed by 0.41, then 0.42, and so on). Recently, several months typically pass between stable releases. Often, a 0. xx stable release is followed by a 0. xx. 1 bugfix release (for example, 0.45 was followed within a month by 0.45.1), which adds no new features but fixes some bugs. Development builds after the 0. xx release are designated 0. xx+svn (for example, 0.46+svn), and each build has a revision number (for example, r20887). You can always find out the exact version number, revision, and build date of your installation of Inkscape by opening Help ▸ About (look at the top-right corner of the About window) or by running Inkscape from the command line with the --version parameter (not on Windows, Appendix C).
Fortunately, the stable and development versions are equally easy to install. Just go to the Download section of the Inkscape website (http://www.inkscape.org) and follow the links to either a stable or a development version for your operating system.
Windows
You will download a .exe installer. Just run it and follow the prompts to choose the language, directory, and other options. At the end you will get a clickable icon of Inkscape on your desktop and in the Start menu.
Sometimes, development versions for Windows are archive files with the extension .7z. Download the free unarchiver at http://www.7-zip.org. With such a build, all you need to do is unarchive the file into some directory and it will run nicely from there.
Linux
There are several options. If all you want is a stable version, most Linux distributions already include one; just select it in your software installation application (for example, on Ubuntu, launch Synaptic or simply run apt-get install inkscape from the command line).
This version, however, is often quite old. If you want a newer stable version or the development bleeding edge version, download an autopackage for the version of choice. After you get the .package file, make it executable and run it. (The first time you do this, you will be prompted to download and install the Autopackage program itself; everything is done automatically once you allow it.) Follow the prompts. Once the package is installed, you will get Inkscape in your System menu and/or on the desktop (it will also be, of course, runnable from the terminal by typing inkscape).
Mac OS X
You will download a disk image (.dmg) file; just open it in the Finder and drag the contents somewhere on your system. Note that you need to install X11 from Apple’s OS X installation disc for Inkscape to work.
New development versions are made available fairly regularly, normally every day. If, however, you want absolutely up-to-the-minute Inkscape, or if the above methods do not work for you for some reason, you can get Inkscape’s code directly from the SVN repository and compile it yourself. Compiling Inkscape is possible on all major platforms; however, it requires an above average level of computer savviness, so we won’t discuss it here.