Is XAMPP (for Windows) preferred over WampServer? If so, why?

Question

It seems lots of answers to questions about getting started in web development include "install XAMPP", even when the platform is Windows. Meanwhile, WampServer doesn't seem to be mentioned often. I've used both XAMPP and WampServer (admittedly, WampServer much more) and think they are both fine. So, is XAMPP preferred? If it is, why?

I realize that Perl comes with XAMPP, but this bias seems to exist even when PHP is the only programming language in question.

This question seems related, but the answers don't really get to the core of why XAMPP seems preferred over WAMP. (And is also a bit stale.)

Answer 1

Hi Matt,

I stumbled upon your question when looking for an answer to "what WAMP package would be the most interesting". I recently formatted my PC and before the format I was running an older version of PHP, an older version of Apache, and an older version of MySQL. My wiki (Mediawiki - only used locally - don't ask :-) was running fine on that for several years.

As I didn't want to waste too much time, I just wanted a WAMP package which I could quickly install, restore the DB, copy the site into the htdocs, and get it running.

So I installed Wampserver. Installation went without any issues. Turned out that I needed some additional time upgrading the wiki to support the latest PHP version but even that finished successfully after more than an hour.

Obviously I can't compare different WAMP packages as I've only used one but my experience so far has not led me into thinking that I chose the wrong one.

Answer 2

I like WampServer because it is easier to have different PHP/Mysql versions installed for different projects.

Answer 3

While I appreciate the effort of those who answered, I have not seen something directly addressing the issue. Thus, I'll mention some thoughts I've had on the topic:

• One possibility is that XAMPP is better known - or at least what people learned of first. While I heard of WampServer long before XAMPP, that may not be the most common experience.
• I believe that every time I've looked, XAMPP has had more recent versions of the included software.
• WampServer doesn't provide much more than Apache, MySQL, and PHP - just phpMyAdmin and SQLite, I believe. XAMPP provides phpMyAdmin, FileZilla FTP server, and Mercury Mail. Also, in spite of somewhat excluding this in the question, XAMPP includes Perl while Wampserver does not. So if Perl is needed/liked by the person making the recommendation, it seems likely that they will recommend XAMPP over WampServer.
• Sex appeal. >:-> Apache Friends has pictures of attractive women on their site. The WampServer side is relatively boring.