Installation instructions (these instructions are for installation on a Windows machine).  The most recent version is R 2.13.0 (as of April 29, 2011).

Go to http://cran.us.r-project.org/

Under “Download and Install R”, click on Windows (or your operating system), on the next page click on base, then click on Download R 2.13.0 for Windows, saving the installation file to your hard drive in an accessible location.

 

Double-click on the R-2.13.0-win.exe installer to begin installation.

 

Choose the language and click on OK

Click on Next >

Click on Next >

Instead of the default Program Files directory, install into the C drive (e.g., C:\R\R-2.13.0) and click Next >

               

 

Select the components you want to install (the pdf help files aren’t necessary, but might be useful if you have the disk space), then click Next >

Accept default startup options and click Next >

 

Click Next >

Click Next > (uncheck “Create a desktop icon” if you don’t want a shortcut on your desktop), and the program will be installed.

Finally, click on Finish

To launch your R session, either double-click the shortcut on your desktop, or go to Start->Program Files->R->R 2.13.0