Your PC needs the necessary drivers to interface with your Samsung phone. If you are lucky enough to have a recent Samsung flagship, you can download the desired firmware from the Samsung Firmware Science website. Many users post stock and beta firmware in these forums. For any older Samsung device, the best place to look is typically in the corresponding XDA forum.
If you're looking for the actual firmware you need to flash, it can sometimes be difficult to locate online. We will focus on instructions for use on a PC in this article. While you can use some hacking to get Odin on a Mac, the native program works only with Windows. Though Odin is fairly simple, there are a few requirements and basics you'll need to learn first.
Odin is Samsung's own internal program for loading such updates for testing purposes, and it's quite easy to use for your own custom modification needs. If you own a Samsung phone and enjoy rooting or modding your device, flashing official firmware can be very useful.