How many times have you, a Windows user, (well, some of you) wanted to install some software and been told "go get linux and install it there"? Well, more often than not, that's the answer you'll get with PHP too. Some people even just give up, not even bothering to try to install PHP on their machine with the Win32 version of Apache to try to get it all working. Well, DevArticles aims to change that with their latest piece.

In Installing PHP Under Personal Web Server, the author holds fast to his promise and steps you through installing a PHP distribution on your version of PWS (the lower-end Windows web server software - not IIS, usually on Win98). It's a pretty easy install, really - it just works as a CGI under the web server. Then, when you execute your PHP scripts, they run separate from the web server, yet outside of the web server itself.

It's a nice alternative to having a separate linux box or having to dual boot your system just to just a PHP install if you're already running Windows. It's not going to perform as well as a unix machine would when it's being used as a live server, but it'll work for smaller sites, like an intranet or something...