What is a Python egg?

I’m new to Python and I’m just trying to understand how its packages work. Presumably eggs are some sort of packaging mechanism, but what would be a quick overview of what role they play and may be some information on why they’re useful and how to create them?

Run Python script without Windows console appearing

Is there any way to run a Python script in Windows XP without a command shell momentarily appearing? I often need to automate WordPerfect (for work) with Python, and even if my script has no output, if I execute it from without WP an empty shell still pops up for a second before disappearing. Is there any way to prevent this? Some kind of output redirection perhaps?