diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..333aa3985a8bf8a54f045c3563bcb2c25214c369
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# auto detect text files and perform LF normalization
+* text=auto
+
+# shell scripts will always have LF only (even in Windows environment)
+*.sh text eol=lf
+
+# perl scripts will always have LF only (even in Windows environment)
+*.pl text eol=lf
+
+# denote all files that are truly binary and should not be modified
+*.png binary
+*.jpg binary
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 5dd5539ca8218b0277c496802529134daac34e4d..d0d9efa380574eb36d13450043e7d81f35cf0bdb 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ tests:
     script:
         - apt update
         - apt install -y libgl1-mesa-glx xvfb graphviz xdg-utils libcairo2-dev libjpeg-dev libgif-dev
+        - wget -nv https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/Anaconda3-5.3.1-Linux-x86_64.sh -O /tmp/Anaconda3-5.3.1-Linux-x86_64.sh
+        - bash /tmp/Anaconda3-5.3.1-Linux-x86_64.sh -b -p /tmp/anaconda3
+        - export PATH=/tmp/anaconda3/bin:$PATH; bash getting_started/getting_started.sh
         - pip install tox
         - xvfb-run tox -v --recreate
 
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
index 814bc50af509a91d7165fd471ef369d77bfceca0..dd9500ff8435f1e88e0d4debf07ffb0883811743 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.rst
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@ Ready to contribute? Here's how to set up `flatland` for local development.
     $ cd flatland
     $ pip install -e .
 
+    These steps are performed if you run
+
+    $ getting_started/getting_started.bat/.sh
+
+    from Anaconda prompt. Only prerequisites: git and Anaconda.
+
 
 4. Create a branch for local development::
 
diff --git a/getting_started/getting_started.bat b/getting_started/getting_started.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..48833ab83ebc62a3bbb7edfc8312251c48bb17dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/getting_started/getting_started.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+@echo on
+
+set FLATLAND_BASEDIR=%~dp0\..
+
+@echo off
+echo "************ TESTING PREREQUISITES PYTHON3 + GIT + GIT *************************"
+@echo on
+
+git --version || goto :error
+python --version || goto :error
+rem deactivate in case we're in virtualenv
+call conda deactivate || call deactivate
+
+
+@echo off
+echo "************ SETUP VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT FLATLAND *************************"
+@echo on
+(conda info --envs | findstr flatland-rl) || conda create python=3.6 -y --name flatland-rl || goto :error
+(call conda activate flatland-rl || call activate flatland-rl) || goto :error
+
+
+@echo off
+echo "************ INSTALL FLATLAND AND DEPENDENCIES IN THE VIRTUALENV  *************************"
+@echo on
+rem TODO we should get rid of having to install these packages outside of setup.py with conda!
+call conda install -y -c conda-forge cairosvg pycairo || goto :error
+call conda install -y -c anaconda tk || goto :error
+call python -m pip install --upgrade pip || goto :error
+python setup.py install || goto :error
+
+# ensure jupyter is installed in the virtualenv
+python -m pip install --upgrade -r %FLATLAND_BASEDIR%/requirements_dev.txt -r %FLATLAND_BASEDIR%/requirements_continuous_integration.txt || goto :error
+
+
+@echo off
+echo "************ INSTALL JUPYTER EXTENSION *************************"
+@echo on
+jupyter nbextension install --py --sys-prefix widgetsnbextension || goto :error
+jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix widgetsnbextension || goto :error
+jupyter nbextension install --py --sys-prefix jpy_canvas || goto :error
+jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix jpy_canvas || goto :error
+
+
+@echo off
+echo "************ RUN JUPYTER NOTEBOOKS *************************"
+@echo on
+jupyter notebook || goto :error
+
+
+goto :EOF
+
+
+:error
+echo Failed with error #%errorlevel%.
+pause
diff --git a/getting_started/run_notebooks.sh b/getting_started/getting_started.sh
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
similarity index 57%
rename from getting_started/run_notebooks.sh
rename to getting_started/getting_started.sh
index 70654ae50fa2e51c7b19df1e71e07408d3c4e7ce..0a245787f32a42092c548605b77ed27426ec4903
--- a/getting_started/run_notebooks.sh
+++ b/getting_started/getting_started.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#!/bin/bash
 set -e # stop on error
 set -x # echo commands
 
@@ -12,27 +12,34 @@ set +x
 echo "************ TESTING PREREQUISITES PYTHON3 + GIT *************************"
 set -x
 
+git --version
+python --version
+conda --version
+echo $PATH
+
 
 set +x
 echo "************ SETUP VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT FLATLAND *************************"
 set -x
+source deactivate
+(conda info --envs | fgrep flatland-rl) || conda create python=3.6 -y --name flatland-rl
+source activate flatland-rl
 
-export WORKON_HOME=${FLATLAND_BASEDIR}/getting_started/envs
-echo WORKON_HOME=$WORKON_HOME
-echo PWD=$PWD
-mkdir -p ${WORKON_HOME}
-# cannot work with virtualenvwrapper in script
-cd ${WORKON_HOME}
-python3 -m venv flatland
-source flatland/bin/activate
 
 set +x
 echo "************ INSTALL FLATLAND IN THE VIRTUALENV  *************************"
 set -x
-cd ${FLATLAND_BASEDIR}
-python setup.py install
+
+# TODO we should get rid of having to install these packages outside of setup.py with conda!
+conda install -y -c conda-forge cairosvg pycairo
+conda install -y  -c anaconda tk
+python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+
+python ${FLATLAND_BASEDIR}/setup.py install
+
 # ensure jupyter is installed in the virtualenv
-pip install -r ${FLATLAND_BASEDIR}/requirements_dev.txt -r requirements_continuous_integration.txt
+python -m pip install --upgrade -r ${FLATLAND_BASEDIR}/requirements_dev.txt -r requirements_continuous_integration.txt
+
 
 set +x
 echo "************ INSTALL JUPYTER EXTENSION *************************"
@@ -41,4 +48,9 @@ jupyter nbextension install --py --sys-prefix widgetsnbextension
 jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix widgetsnbextension
 jupyter nbextension install --py --sys-prefix jpy_canvas
 jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix jpy_canvas
-jupyter notebook
+
+
+set +x
+echo "************ RUN JUPYTER NOTEBOOKS *************************"
+set -x
+jupyter notebook &
diff --git a/getting_started/run_notebooks.bat b/getting_started/run_notebooks.bat
deleted file mode 100644
index afe41e08040c981deddcb1718e3876c2bb097708..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/getting_started/run_notebooks.bat
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,53 +0,0 @@
-@echo on
-
-set PWD_BEFORE=%cd%
-
-@echo off
-echo "************ TESTING PREREQUISITES PYTHON3 + GIT *************************"
-@echo on
-
-git --version || goto :error
-python3 --version || goto :error
-
-
-@echo off
-echo "************ SETUP VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT FLATLAND *************************"
-@echo on
-
-set FLATLAND_BASEDIR=%~dp0\..
-set WORKON_HOME=%FLATLAND_BASEDIR%\getting_started\envs_win
-if not exist "%WORKON_HOME%" md "%WORKON_HOME%" || goto :error
-cd "%WORKON_HOME%"
-rem use venv instead of virtualenv/virtualenv-wrapper because of https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/issues/355
-python3 -m venv flatland || goto :error
-rem ignore activation error: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51358202/python-3-7-activate-venv-error-parameter-format-not-correct-65001-windows
-call "%WORKON_HOME%\flatland\Scripts\activate.bat" || true
-
-
-@echo off
-echo "************ INSTALL FLATLAND IN THE VIRTUALENV  *************************"
-@echo on
-python -m pip install --upgrade pip || goto :error
-cd %FLATLAND_BASEDIR% || goto :error
-python setup.py install || goto :error
-REM ensure jupyter is installed in the virtualenv
-pip install -r "%FLATLAND_BASEDIR%/requirements_dev.txt" -r "%FLATLAND_BASEDIR%\requirements_continuous_integration.txt" || goto :error
-
-@echo off
-echo "************ INSTALL JUPYTER EXTENSION *************************"
-@echo on
-jupyter nbextension install --py --sys-prefix widgetsnbextension || goto :error
-jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix widgetsnbextension || goto :error
-jupyter nbextension install --py --sys-prefix jpy_canvas || goto :error
-jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix jpy_canvas || goto :error
-jupyter notebook || goto :error
-
-
-goto :EOF
-
-
-:error
-echo Failed with error #%errorlevel%.
-cd "%PWD_BEFORE%" || true
-deactivate || true
-pause
diff --git a/notebooks/Scene_Editor.ipynb b/notebooks/Scene_Editor.ipynb
index 64bbad77d3a9b63caea062795cd0ab8f0cce72f3..87b2d38c314140a3f51afa92058b0d5c3c3cc6af 100644
--- a/notebooks/Scene_Editor.ipynb
+++ b/notebooks/Scene_Editor.ipynb
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
     {
      "data": {
       "application/vnd.jupyter.widget-view+json": {
-       "model_id": "0b92e7084e37450cbfb3855dc3a58543",
+       "model_id": "86a323f55bb54ff78169a9c7ca63730f",
        "version_major": 2,
        "version_minor": 0
       },
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
    "name": "python",
    "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
    "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
-   "version": "3.6.5"
+   "version": "3.6.8"
   },
   "latex_envs": {
    "LaTeX_envs_menu_present": true,
diff --git a/requirements_continuous_integration.txt b/requirements_continuous_integration.txt
index fa2b57bc94cd6f2c2a41b0299f9a77d0291f3fe0..a165e673a153db966a05ded2e18b7aafc1ff0042 100644
--- a/requirements_continuous_integration.txt
+++ b/requirements_continuous_integration.txt
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 # contains all additional requirements to run the ```tox .``` in addition to requirements_dev.txt for ```tox -e py36,py37```
-bumpversion==0.5.3
-wheel==0.32.1
-watchdog==0.9.0
-benchmarker==4.0.1
-coverage==4.5.1
-Sphinx==1.8.1
-sphinx-rtd-theme==0.4.3
-flake8==3.7.7
-flake8-eradicate==0.2.0
-twine==1.12.1
-pydeps==1.7.2
-jupyter==1.0.0
-pytest-xvfb==1.2.0
+bumpversion>=0.5.3
+wheel>=0.32.1
+watchdog>=0.9.0
+benchmarker>=4.0.1
+coverage>=4.5.1
+Sphinx>=1.8.1
+sphinx-rtd-theme>=0.4.3
+flake8>=3.7.7
+flake8-eradicate>=0.2.0
+twine>=1.12.1
+pydeps>=1.7.2
+jupyter>=1.0.0
+jupyter-core>=4.5.0
+notebook>=5.7.8
+pytest-xvfb>=1.2.0
 git+https://github.com/who8mylunch/Jupyter_Canvas_Widget.git@bd151ae1509c50b5809944dd3294f58b7b069c86
-
diff --git a/requirements_dev.txt b/requirements_dev.txt
index 002be2a1736601bfec55406eb47fd33ec90bb358..ea46eb245842881f1c51ededa5284300836a36ba 100644
--- a/requirements_dev.txt
+++ b/requirements_dev.txt
@@ -1,18 +1,17 @@
 # contains all requirements to run the tests by running ```tox -e py36,py37```
-tox==3.5.2
-twine==1.12.1
-pytest==3.8.2
-pytest-runner==4.2
-numpy==1.16.4
-recordtype==1.3
-xarray==0.11.3
-matplotlib==3.0.2
-Pillow==5.4.1
-# pycairo==1.18.1 is installed via setup.py since it needs special treatment under Windows
-CairoSVG==2.3.1
-msgpack==0.6.1
-svgutils==0.3.1
-screeninfo==0.3.1
-pyarrow==0.13.0
-importlib-metadata==0.17
-importlib_resources==1.0.2
+tox>=3.5.2
+twine>=1.12.1
+pytest>=3.8.2
+pytest-runner>=4.2
+numpy>=1.16.4
+recordtype>=1.3
+xarray>=0.11.3
+matplotlib>=3.0.2
+Pillow>=5.4.1
+CairoSVG>=2.3.1
+msgpack>=0.6.1
+svgutils>=0.3.1
+screeninfo>=0.3.1
+pyarrow>=0.13.0
+importlib-metadata>=0.17
+importlib_resources>=1.0.2
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 900dada07e587333db5459bc4a482be080f241b9..0afa7bf1ba7ce9fbe170178caf808dd7ce267937 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 """The setup script."""
 import os
-import platform
 import sys
 
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
@@ -12,51 +11,6 @@ assert sys.version_info >= (3, 6)
 with open('README.rst') as readme_file:
     readme = readme_file.read()
 
-# install pycairo on Windows
-if os.name == 'nt':
-    p = platform.architecture()
-    is64bit = p[0] == '64bit'
-    if sys.version[0:3] == '3.5':
-        if is64bit:
-            url = 'https://download.lfd.uci.edu/pythonlibs/t4jqbe6o/pycairo-1.18.1-cp35-cp35m-win_amd64.whl'
-        else:
-            url = 'https://download.lfd.uci.edu/pythonlibs/t4jqbe6o/pycairo-1.18.1-cp35-cp35m-win32.whl'
-
-    if sys.version[0:3] == '3.6':
-        if is64bit:
-            url = 'https://download.lfd.uci.edu/pythonlibs/t4jqbe6o/pycairo-1.18.1-cp36-cp36m-win_amd64.whl'
-        else:
-            url = 'https://download.lfd.uci.edu/pythonlibs/t4jqbe6o/pycairo-1.18.1-cp36-cp36m-win32.whl'
-
-    if sys.version[0:3] == '3.7':
-        if is64bit:
-            url = 'https://download.lfd.uci.edu/pythonlibs/t4jqbe6o/pycairo-1.18.1-cp37-cp37m-win_amd64.whl'
-        else:
-            url = 'https://download.lfd.uci.edu/pythonlibs/t4jqbe6o/pycairo-1.18.1-cp37-cp37m-win32.whl'
-
-    try:
-        import pycairo
-    except:
-        call_cmd = "pip install " + url
-        os.system(call_cmd)
-
-        import site
-        import ctypes.util
-
-        default_os_path = os.environ['PATH']
-        os.environ['PATH'] = ''
-        for s in site.getsitepackages():
-            os.environ['PATH'] = os.environ['PATH'] + ';' + s + '\\cairo'
-        os.environ['PATH'] = os.environ['PATH'] + ';' + default_os_path
-        print(os.environ['PATH'])
-        if ctypes.util.find_library('cairo') is not None:
-            print("cairo installed: OK")
-else:
-    try:
-        import pycairo
-    except:
-        os.system("pip install pycairo==1.18.1")
-
 
 def get_all_svg_files(directory='./svg/'):
     ret = []