What's the difference between the Windows binaries available from www.php.net vs. the binaries from windows.php.net ? GCC builds vs. VS?

The PHP application I'm using is not currently compatible with PHP 5.3.x, so I need a 5.2 build. The application will be running through IIS 6, but there is not a V9 release of 5.2.13. So what is my best option? Use a VC6 x86 Thread Safe build of 5.2.13, use a VC9 x86 Thread Safe build of 5.2.12, or use something else? Do the security fixes in 5.2.13 always win out over stability?

(This feels like an FAQ, but I couldn't find anybody else asking the same question...)

Thanks!

    24 days later

    From windows.php.net site:

    "If you are using PHP with Apache 1 or Apache2 from apache.org you need to use the VC6 versions of PHP

    If you are using PHP with IIS you should use the VC9 versions of PHP

    VC6 Versions are compiled with the legacy Visual Studio 6 compiler

    VC9 Versions are compiled with the Visual Studio 2008 compiler and have improvements in performance and stability. The VC9 versions require you to have the Microsoft 2008 C++ Runtime (x86) or the Microsoft 2008 C++ Runtime (x64) installed

    Do NOT use VC9 version with apache.org binaries "

    I recommend to stick to using a LAMP stack and avoiding Windows altogether.

      I use always VC6 and Thread Safe /B versions
      for Windows & Apache.
      Because this is what is recommended.

        10 days later

        Just out of interest ... what are the incompatibilities?

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