diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 8e165006da22..3a72974ca192 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -11,18 +11,18 @@ depends on what operating system you are using, what you already have
 installed, and how you want to use it.  To avoid wading through all
 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 Enthought
-Python Distribution `(EPD)
-<http://www.enthought.com/products/epd.php>`_ for Windows, OS X or
-Redhat is an excellent choice that "just works" out of the box.
+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 
+platform.  Both of these packages include matplotlib and
+*lots* of other useful tools.
 Another excellent alternative for Windows users is `Python (x, y)
-<http://www.pythonxy.com/>`_ which tends to be updated a bit more
-frequently.  Both of these packages include matplotlib and pylab, and
-*lots* of other useful tools.  matplotlib is also packaged for almost
+<https://code.google.com/p/pythonxy>`_ . matplotlib is also packaged for almost
 every major Linux distribution. So if you are on Linux, your package
 manager will probably provide matplotlib prebuilt.
 
-
 Manually installing pre-built packages
 ======================================
 
@@ -198,6 +198,12 @@ six 1.3 or later
     Python 2/3 compatibility library.  This is also a dependency of
     :term:`dateutil`.
 
+libpng 1.2 (or later)
+    library for loading and saving :term:`PNG` files (`download
+    <http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/libpng.html>`__). libpng requires
+    zlib. If you are a Windows user, you can ignore this because we
+    build support into the matplotlib single-click installer
+
 
 **Optional GUI frameworks**
 
@@ -241,13 +247,6 @@ ImageMagick
     user, you can ignore this since we build support into the
     matplotlib single click installer.
 
-
-libpng 1.2 (or later)
-    library for loading and saving :term:`PNG` files (`download
-    <http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/libpng.html>`__). libpng requires
-    zlib. If you are a Windows user, you can ignore this because we
-    build support into the matplotlib single-click installer
-
 **Required libraries that ship with matplotlib**
 
 :term:`agg` 2.4
diff --git a/README.osx b/README.osx
index c2ca0a59afce..12915d488bf3 100644
--- a/README.osx
+++ b/README.osx
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
-Building mpl on OSX has proven to be a nightmare because of all the
+Building mpl on OSX is sometimes a nightmare because of all the
 different types of zlib, png and freetype that may be on your system.
-The recommended and supported way to build is to use a third-party
-package manager to install the required dependencies, and then
-install matplotlib from source using the setup.py script. Two widely
-used package managers are homebrew and MacPorts. The following
-example illustrates how to install libpng and freetype using
-homebrew.
+
+For developers who want to build matplotlib from source, the recommended and 
+supported way to build is to use a third-party package manager to install the 
+required dependencies, and then install matplotlib from source using the 
+setup.py script. Two widely used package managers are homebrew, and 
+MacPorts. The following example illustrates how to install libpng and freetype 
+using brew:
 
 Example usage::
 
@@ -22,3 +23,9 @@ To install matplotlib from source, execute:
 Example usage::
 
   python setup.py install
+
+
+Note that your environment is somewhat important. Some conda users have 
+found that, to run the tests, their PYTHONPATH must include 
+/path/to/anaconda/.../site-packages and their DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH 
+must include /path/to/anaconda/lib.