Anaconda is a free and open-source distribution of Python and R that includes over 1500 packages for data science, machine learning, and large-scale data processing. It aims to simplify package and environment management using the conda package manager. Anaconda includes a graphical user interface called Anaconda Navigator that allows users to launch applications like Jupyter Notebook, install packages, and manage environments and channels without using the command line. Conda allows packages to be installed from the Anaconda repository or custom repositories and keeps track of dependencies to avoid issues.