Help for a newbie.

[mc2007]

I have recently bought a book called "Beginning PHP5, APACHE, MYSQL, WEB DEVELOPMENT" This is my first experience ever with any web development software. When I use xammp to download AMP, is it preset, or do I still have to configure my AMP settings. Would PHPtriad be better? I can not understand what I am supposed to do as this is all new to me, and I am confused. Could someone please help with some guidance.

[sneakyimp]

I'm guessing you're talking about xampp and not xammp (two P's, not two N's).

It's my guess that you'll definitely need some kind of configuration or setup. IT's shocking that your book wouldn't cover it. I'd try the docs page for xampp:
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp.html

Ditto for PHPTriad.

[VBAssassin]

Personally i prefer EasyPHP... it is not bloated with loads of other stuff like i found others were. EasyPHP comes with PHP 5, Apache 2, phpMyAdmin, and MySQL.

It's also very easy to install.

Kind regards,
Scott