If you want a quick and easy way to setup a PHP/MySQL development environment use XAMPP. XAMPP is a very easy Apache distribution giving you instant support for PHP, Perl and more.

XAMPP even contains an FTP server, phpMyAdmin, and a mail server. There’s no easier and better way to instantly serve your web applications.

You can download the latest version of XAMPP from the ApacheFriends website. XAMPP is reguarly updated for the latest versions of the packages used.