new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/INSTALL.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+Installing Markup
+=================
+
+Prerequisites
+-------------
+
+ * Python 2.3 or later (2.4 or later is recommended)
+ * Optional: setuptools 0.6a2 or later
+
+
+Installation
+------------
+
+Once you've downloaded and unpacked a Markup source release, enter the
+directory where the archive was unpacked, and run:
+
+  $ python setup.py install
+
+Note that you may need administrator/root privileges for this step, as
+this command will by default attempt to install Markup to the Python
+site-packages directory on your system.
+
+For advanced options, please refer to the easy_install and/or the distutils
+documentation:
+
+  http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall
+  http://docs.python.org/inst/inst.html
+
+
+Support
+-------
+
+If you encounter any problems with Markup, please don't hesitate to ask
+questions on the Markup mailing list or IRC channel:
+
+  http://markup.edgewall.org/wiki/MailingList
+  http://markup.edgewall.org/wiki/IrcChannel

--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -6,27 +6,6 @@
 manner. The major feature is a template language that is heavily inspired
 by Kid.
 
-
-Prerequisites
--------------
-
- * Python, version 2.3 or later (version 2.4 or later is recommended)
- * Optional: setuptools 0.6a2 or later
-
-
-Installation
-------------
-
-Once you've downloaded and unpacked a Markup source release, enter the
-directory where the archive was unpacked, and run:
-
-  $ python setup.py install
-
-Note that you may need administrator/root privileges for this step, as
-it will by default attempt to install Markup to the Python site-packages
-directory on your system.
-
-
-For more information visit the Markup web site:
+For more information please visit the Markup web site:
 
   <http://markup.edgewall.org/>