Hi all! so what is xampp, well it is an insallation that contains php, mysql, filezila, mercury mail, phpmyadmin, perl and the common products a developer could need. What i like the most about xampp is the easiest way you can install it, also you can switch from php4 to php5 with an useful switcher contained in the installation folders, i never had the chance to have php5 up and running and nor mysql4.x so if you were like me with lots of problems in the php or mysql installation definately this product is for you. But what about the ftp folders? good question, i havent tried filezila (obviously because i test in my localhost) but i think it runs good, i also mentioned Mercury mail yep the xampp installation contains this product that will let you set up your own mail hosting with all the cappabilities a mail server should have (smtp, pop3) and webmail i think so far is not included but if you are good enough maybe you develop the web interface(if you have one, could you share it to try mercury mail in a web environment?). Phpmyadmin is contained too so you can set databases easy and fastly. There are other extensions and libraries that i havent found so far but some of them include OpenSSL, Freetype, Webalizer, mod_perl, eAccelerator and many others. I have to mention that this xampp comes with a little "Admin" that easily let you start or stop the main Programs included such as php, mysql. Finally its worth to tell you that there are updates to include new extensions to xampp. You can check the page with the complete details at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/index.html

yeah im closing this already. This topic as been discussed in a tutorial.